


Against All Odds

by Kittens



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Animal Death, Eye Trauma, Fox Armitage Hux, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Rimming, Stabbing, minor torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-02-19 03:42:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 49,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22604593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittens/pseuds/Kittens
Summary: Kylo really doesn't care for people, but he'll always help an animal in need. When he sees a dog covered in mud on a cold, rainy day, he can't help but try to help. What he didn't expect was for the dog to be a fox and the fox to be a man.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 163
Kudos: 251
Collections: Kylux Positivity Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't mean to start another WIP, but I've had this idea for a while and Kylux Positivity Week was a good chance to finally do it. It's not fully planned out, so I will likely be adding tags and I might knock the rating down. It's at E just to be safe. I am going to try to update this every other week.

It had been raining all day and it seemed like everyone was in a bad mood because of the weather. Kylo really didn’t mind the rain. He liked it, actually. It was calming for him and he enjoyed the cool weather that came with it. The only downside to it was listening to everyone else complain. But when he complained about the hot, sunny weather, everyone told him to shut up.

At least he didn’t care what any of his coworkers thought.

Since they often liked to leave early on warm days to “enjoy the sun,” Kylo decided to do the same. Not that he was going to be doing anything outside. He just wanted to get home before traffic got too bad. He ignored his coworkers asking where he was heading and left.

As he expected, traffic was light and it only took him twenty minutes to get home. He was nearly home when he saw something moving next to the road. There was a dog, covered in mud, slowly walking in the rain. Kylo immediately pulled over. There was no one else in sight who seemed to be looking for a lost dog and as muddy as the dog was, he must have been out there for quite some time. Kylo didn’t want to leave the poor thing out there, soaked and muddy. He couldn’t keep a pet, but he could at least get him cleaned up and hopefully find the owner or bring him to a shelter.

“Hey,” Kylo called out to the dog. He looked at him and Kylo crouched down. He didn’t want to scare him off, as he was a fairly small dog. 

It would have been too easy for the dog to just come to him. Kylo moved forward, trying to keep his own clothes from getting muddy, but he knew it was a lost cause. It was more important that the dog didn’t run, because the last thing Kylo wanted to do was chase a dog through the mud. 

Kylo spoke softly to the dog as he slowly approached. The dog didn’t run. He just watched him very carefully. Once Kylo was close enough, he grabbed the dog. He expected him to struggle, but he went limp and Kylo thought he’d hurt him. But when he cradled the dog close to him, he looked fine and he hadn’t cried out. He just closed his eyes. Kylo understood what was wrong. The poor thing was exhausted.

“I’ll get you cleaned up and get you something to eat,” Kylo said. “Then maybe I can get you home.” The dog kicked his back leg when Kylo said that, but otherwise remained calm. 

Kylo put the dog in the backseat of his car. He knew there would be a huge mess to clean up later, but it was more important that he took care of the dog. Kylo glanced back as he was driving and the dog seemed to be sleeping.

They had been close to his apartment so it didn’t take long to get there. Kylo picked up the dog, hoping no one would see him taking the dog inside. At least the rain seemed to be keeping everyone indoors and no one seemed to notice him. He really wanted to get the dog something to eat, but he already was going to have to clean mud out of his car. He’d prefer not to have to clean his apartment as well.

He brought the dog into the bathroom and turned on the water, taking off his own dirty clothes as well. The dog lifted his head but didn’t struggle. That was good at least. He thought it might be difficult, but maybe the dog was just too tired to fight him.

“Sorry about this,” Kylo said. “But I got to get you cleaned up. I promise I’ll get you something to eat after. Just don’t make this difficult.”

Once the water was warm enough, Kylo moved the dog under the water. He didn’t look happy, but he didn’t try to get away. As Kylo washed the mud away, he realized that the dog didn’t have brown fur - he was just that dirty. Instead, he saw that he had orange fur. When he got to his front legs, he couldn’t seem to get the dirt off until he realized that he just had dark fur on his legs.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog that looks like you,” Kylo said as he finally got the dog clean. But there was something familiar about him. He turned the water off and grabbed a towel to start drying him and that’s when it hit him.

“Oh! You’re one of those doge dogs! Much wow.” When he said that, the dog nipped him in the hand and Kylo pulled his hand back. “What was that for?”

Deciding the dog was dry enough Kylo picked him up and carried him into his kitchen. He thought about putting some clothes on, but he didn’t think a dog would care that he was in an undershirt and boxers.

“I don’t have any dog food, Kylo said as he opened up his refrigerator. “But I’m sure I’ve got something you can eat in here.”

The dog walked over and stuck his head inside the refrigerator, like he was trying to pick out what to eat. Kylo thought it was funny and a bit cute, so he just watched him. He reached for his phone, but it was still in the bathroom.

“Stay just like that,” Kylo said. He didn’t think that the dog would stay there, but he wanted to try to get a picture. 

He dashed to the bathroom and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He opened up the camera so he’d be ready just in case the dog was still looking inside the refrigerator. He got back to the kitchen and immediately realized he’d made a mistake.

“Hey!” he shouted. “That’s mine!” 

The dog had pulled leftover rotisserie chicken out of the refrigerator that Kylo was planning on having for dinner and was scarfing it down. Kylo grabbed it and tried to pull it out of the dog’s jaws, but he refused to let go. At least Kylo could eat while engaging in a tug of war. If he couldn’t save the entire thing, he’d at least eat as much as he could.

With one hand still holding onto the piece of chicken in the dog’s mouth, Kylo used his other to start eating. The dog seemed to realize what he was doing and put his paw on the chicken. It quickly turned into a battle, both of them trying to stop the other while eating as much as possible. 

Only after they had finished the chicken did Kylo realize the ridiculousness of the situation. He was sitting on his kitchen floor in his underwear, fighting a dog for chicken. He couldn’t help but laugh. 

“I don’t think I expected that,” Kylo said once he stopped laughing. He stood up and threw the bones away. He was surprised the dog didn’t try to eat those. Weren’t dogs supposed to like bones? 

Although he didn’t get a picture of the dog looking in his refrigerator, Kylo still wanted to get a picture of him to send to his sister. She liked animals. He finished cleaning up the mess and then grabbed his phone. The dog was pawing at his refrigerator and Kylo took a picture and sent it to Rey.

**look at my new friend!**

“Still hungry?” Kylo asked. He opened up the refrigerator and looked for something else the dog might like to eat. He heard his phone buzz, but he didn’t look at it. He knew better than to let the dog have access to his refrigerator. “You like peanut butter?” 

Kylo pulled some peanut butter out of the refrigerator and then spread some on a piece of bread. He handed it down to the dog and then prepared a piece of bread for himself.

“I’m not supposed to have pets,” Kylo said, sitting down on the floor with the dog. “You can stay for a little while, but you’d better not make a mess.”

He didn’t know why he was talking to the dog. It wasn’t like he would understand. But it was something that Kylo had to worry about. If the dog needed to go to the bathroom, Kylo knew he would risk someone seeing him. And he didn’t have a collar or a leash. For all he knew the dog would run off as soon as they went outside. He wasn’t Kylo’s dog, but he didn’t like the idea of him being on his own.

When the dog finished his bread and peanut butter, he walked over to the counter and stood up on his hind legs. He looked between Kylo and the jar of peanut butter sitting above. 

“Really? You’re still hungry? How much do dogs eat?” Kylo still made him another piece of bread, adding a little more peanut butter. 

He gave the dog the bread and Kylo remembered that his phone had buzzed. He looked and say he had a message from Rey, but her response was not what he had expected.

**Why is there a fox in your apartment?**

**he’s one of those doge dogs**

“My sister thinks you're a fox,” he told the dog. The dog looked up at him and Kylo thought the dog rolled his eyes at him. But that wasn’t something dogs did, was it? Kylo didn’t really know anything about dogs.

Another message came in on his phone. Then there was another. And another and another. He looked at his phone and saw that Rey was sending him pictures. The first was a picture of an orange dog labeled “Shiba.” After that was a picture of one that looked very much like the dog Kylo had. That one was labeled “fox.” She kept sending them in pairs.

**okay i get it he’s a fox**

Kylo thought about the fact that he’d just picked up some random animal and brought it inside his apartment. He’d planned on taking the dog to the vet and seeing if he had a microchip, but if he was really a fox, he wouldn’t have a home. 

**what do i do with him**

**PUT HIM BACK OUTSIDE YOU IDIOT**

Kylo figured that much, but he didn’t want to. He’d looked so sad and cold, and he’d clearly been hungry. Kylo hated to put him back outside to fend for himself. And he seemed so friendly for a wild animal. Besides the fact that he’d stolen his chicken. And bit him in the bathroom, but he hadn’t even bit him that hard. 

“Look, you can’t stay here,” Kylo said. “But you can stay until the rain stops. I’m gonna go for a run. Please don’t destroy anything, okay?”

Kylo went to his bedroom and quickly changed into his running clothes and then headed out. He loved running in the rain. It was probably a bad idea to leave the fox in his apartment, but he couldn’t make him leave.

Knowing that the fox had been really hungry, Kylo decided to run to the store and get another chicken. He didn’t really like running while carrying things, but at least he could get his exercise and run errands at the same time. It took him about an hour and he was soaked by the time he got back, but he felt good.

He went into his apartment, planning on drying off and then seeing if his fox friend wanted anymore chicken, but as soon as he walked in, he saw there was a strange man with red hair sitting on his kitchen counter, eating pop tarts and drinking a can of soda. 

“What are you doing in here?” Kylo demanded. He didn’t have a weapon, but the man looked really scrawny. He could probably take him. Unless he had a knife. What if he was armed? What if he had hurt his fox? Kylo glanced around but he didn’t see the fox anywhere. “Where’s my, uh, dog?”

“Um.” The man just stared at him. “I didn’t know you’d be back so soon.”

“Who are you and what are you doing here? And are you wearing my clothes?” He hadn’t realized at first, but while trying to see if the man might be hiding a weapon, Kylo noticed he was wearing his sweater. And his sweatpants. Both were huge on the man.

“So this is a little awkward,” the man said. 

“Where’s my dog?” Kylo shouted.

“I’m not a dog, you imbecile! I’m a fox!”

“What?” 

“Just... let me show you.” The man stood up and walked closer to him, and Kylo could see that he had blue eyes the same color as the fox’s. But that didn’t mean anything. How could a man be a fox?

But then there were two ears on top of the man’s head and when Kylo looked down, he saw that he had a bushy tail as well. He glanced back at the man’s face and saw that he now had whiskers and long canine teeth.

“What the fuck?” Kylo whispered, dropping the bag with the chicken. That seemed to catch the man’s attention.

“Is that for me?”

“No.” Kylo quickly picked the chicken up and shoved it in the refrigerator. He had no idea what was going on. He thought he was helping a lost dog, but that dog turned out to be a fox and that fox turned out to be a man. But a man that could turn into a fox? That wasn’t possible.

“Are you seriously the fox I picked up?” Kylo asked, turning to face the man. He still had fox ears and a fox tail, but he’d lost the whiskers and teeth.

“Yes, and I appreciate your help. I really do. I’m sure you’ll want me gone, so I’ll just leave.”

The man started to take Kylo’s sweater off, revealing pale skin that was covered in bruises. Kylo grabbed the bottom of his sweater and pulled it back down. He might not have realized that the fox was a man, but he’d seen someone in need. And he still needed help.

“Wait,” Kylo said. “What’s your name? How is this possible?”

“Hux. My name is Hux.” He frowned and seemed to be thinking about that. “I suppose you can call me Armitage. I’m a fox shapeshifter.”

“So you can just be a fox or a person? Why were you out in the rain then?” Kylo glanced down towards his stomach, wondering if the bruises there had anything to do with it.

“I needed to hide,” Armitage said. “My… there’s another shapeshifter who is in charge of the others. He and I did not get along. He, um. He ordered me to take on another as my mate. I refused. He beat me and threatened to beat me every day until I agreed. I escaped. But I don’t have any skills. I can’t get a job. And if I did, he might find me. So I had to live as a fox, but I wasn’t very good at that.”

There were tears in the man’s eyes and Kylo wanted to hug him. He’d even stepped forward, but then realized that they were strangers. Armitage didn’t know him and after all that he’d gone through, he probably didn’t want a hug from him. Even if Kylo had already held him, bathed him, and fought him for food.

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” Kylo asked.

“Do you really think having me turn into a man in the backseat of your car or your bathroom would have been a good idea? You’d probably freak out. And there’s also the little matter of the fact I wouldn’t have had clothes.”

“Oh. That’s why you’re wearing mine.” Kylo realized he was right. Had the “dog” in the back of his car suddenly turned to a man, he probably would have crashed. And had he done it at any point while Kylo was in the apartment, he would have screamed.

“Like I said, I’ll be on my way,” Armitage said.

“Where are you going to go?”

He shrugged. “Not sure. Somewhere I can’t be found, hopefully.”

“There’s no one you can stay with? Friends? Distant relatives?” 

Armitage shook his head and Kylo could help but think about how unbelievably lonely that must be. And frightening. He was on the run and he had absolutely no one to help him. Kylo didn’t know him and he really didn’t get along with most people, but he couldn’t help himself. He wanted to help Armitage.

“Why don’t you stay here?”

“What do you want in return?” Armitage asked, eyes narrowed. “I’m not going to fuck you.”

“No!” Kylo said quickly. “I wasn’t thinking of something like that! Um. I don’t really want anything. I just thought that I have a couch so you might as well sleep on it?”

“Did you even stop to think that maybe I was making that whole sob story up? Maybe that’s my plan. Get you to let your guard down and then steal everything you have.”

“Is it?”

“No,” Armitage said with a sigh. “I wish it was.”

“I mean, there’s really not that much to steal. Just furniture really. There’s my computer and phone, but those are usually with me.”

“Well, I’m not here to steal anything. So you’re really okay with letting someone sleep on your couch?”

“When I thought you were just a fox, I was already trying to think of ways that you could stay,” Kylo said with a shrug. “This isn’t really any different, except at least now I’m not violating my lease.”

“You wanted to keep me as a pet?” Armitage asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“No! I mean, I didn’t know that you were you! I thought you were just a fox!”

“You thought I was a dog.”

“You were the one covered in so much mud that made it impossible to tell!”

Armitage looked sad at that and walked away, settling down on the couch. Kylo realized he must have said something wrong.

“Armitage?”

“I’m really tired,” he said. “Would it be okay if I got some sleep?”

“Yeah. Of course. Um. Let me know if you need anything.”

Kylo knew he was probably lying just to get him to stop talking, but Kylo really didn’t want to upset him any more than he already had. He’d give him some time and hopefully he’d eventually tell him what was wrong. Kylo wanted to make sure he didn’t upset him again.

He had no idea why he was already starting to think of Armitage as someone who would always be there. He probably didn’t need to worry too much about his feelings. He seemed eager to leave earlier, and Kylos suspected that he would take off after a few days. 

It would be nice to have a friend, but maybe he needed a better way of making friends than picking them up off the street.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some minor chapter specific warnings:
> 
> \- You can read this as implying Brendol wanted Armitage to marry Pryde. At this point, I have not determined exactly who Brendol wanted him to marry, but there is a hint that it might be Pryde (the other options I'm considering are Peavey or Canady if it actually comes up).  
> \- There are hints of Armitage's past abuse - his physical injuries are mentioned and he also has many issues with self-worth.  
> \- There is an attempt to trade sex for favors.

Armitage couldn’t believe his luck. He’d been cold, hungry, muddy, and completely soaked and the next thing he knew, he’d been picked up, cleaned, fed and given a warm place to sleep. He’d been so miserable on his own, he’d actually considered going back to his father. He’d be forced to marry a man he didn’t like, but at least he’d be warm and fed.

Now he had all he needed and he was away from Brendol, away from Pryde, away from everyone who had ever hurt him. It wouldn’t last, of course, as nothing good ever did, but Armitage was going to enjoy it while it did. Eventually, Kylo would either grow sick of him or demand something in return, and probably sooner rather than later.

Armitage suspected that on the weekend, when Kylo would actually be around, he would finally tire of him.The past few days he’d only seen Kylo in the evenings and he seemed friendly enough, but Kylo’s promise to spend the weekend together was when things would surely go wrong. 

In the meantime, Armitage had been sure to eat as much as he could. He hadn’t quite figured out how to find a good source of food. He’d tried hunting, but the idea of eating raw meat and fur and bones made him feel sick. He might be a fox shapeshifter, but he wasn’t an animal. He also couldn’t stand the thought of eating trash. 

He’d managed to steal a bit of food from people having cook outs and picnics, but it just wasn’t enough. And when it had rained, Armitage knew that he wouldn’t be eating that day. 

He really was lucky he ran into Kylo, but he wished it could last forever. Kylo’s apartment was nice. It was warm and Kylo fed him and let him wear his clothes. They were huge on him, but Armitage was very comfortable in the other man’s clothes. What was really nice was that he didn’t have to hide what he was - Kylo knew and didn’t care, which meant he didn’t need to hide his ears or tail. 

It was more natural to not hide his fox features. Appearing as a regular human took energy and concentration, and it was nice that he could truly relax around Kylo. 

Armitage didn’t realize he was crying until Kylo walked into the room. He felt the tears on his face and quickly wiped them away as he sat up.

“What’s wrong?” Kylo asked. He sat down next to him on the couch. He was a little closer than Armitage would have liked, but at least he didn’t touch him.

“Nothing.”

“But you’re… oh. All right.”

Armitage frowned. How could Kylo pretend to understand why he had been crying? Armitage didn’t even know himself, but as long as Kylo dropped the subject, Armitage didn’t care what he thought.

“So, do you still want to hang out today?” Kylo asked after an awkward moment of silence. “We don’t have to. And if you just want to be by yourself, I can leave.”

“It’s your apartment. Shouldn’t I be the one to leave?”

“Um. I don’t know. I just thought I could go see my sister or something and you really don’t have anywhere to go so it makes more sense for me to leave.”

“What did you plan on doing today?”

“I was thinking I could take you shopping,” Kylo said. “Thought you might like to have clothes that actually fit you.”

“I can’t,” Armitage said, shaking his head. “I don’t have any money.”

“Yeah, I figured that. I can get you whatever you need though.”

Armitage just stared at him. They’d only known each other for a few days, and Kylo had spent most of those days at work or sleeping. Why would he offer to buy him clothes? If he was sick of Armitage wearing his, why not just demand them back? 

“Thank you,” he said. “But it’s better this way. It’s not as if I can take clothes with me when I leave.”

“Oh. Are you planning on leaving?”

Armitage shrugged. “As soon as you’re sick of me.”

“Um. Well. I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon. It’s nice having a friend. But if you don’t want to get your own clothes, we don’t have to. We could go get something to eat? Coffee? Or do you just want to hang around here?”

Armitage stared at Kylo. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Kylo really wanted to spend time with him? He considered them friends? They didn’t even know each other! How could they be friends? But Armitage never had friends before. Maybe that was how it was supposed to happen.

“Armitage? You okay?”

“Yeah. We can do whatever you want.”

Kylo grinned and Armitage couldn’t help but smile at how happy he looked. Armitage wasn’t used to people looking so happy around him. He wanted to believe that Kylo actually meant it when he said they were friends, but he knew that wouldn’t last. He might be okay with Armitage hanging around for the moment, but he’d tire of him eventually.

“Okay, well I want you to have your own things,” Kylo said, jumping up. “We’ll go out, get some breakfast, and then we can go to Target. That way you can get whatever else you need.”

Kylo sounded so excited that Armitage couldn’t help but feel a bit of that excitement too. It would be nice to have his own things while he stayed with Kylo. And if Kylo really insisted on buying it for him, Armitage couldn’t say no. Maybe he could find a way to repay him someday. He didn’t know how. He’d never had a job before and had no idea how to go about getting one.

Armitage didn’t even have shoes, which meant he had to wear a pair of Kylo’s. That really made Armitage realize how little he had. Dressed completely in Kylo’s clothes, Armitage got into Kylo’s car. At least he was in the front seat and dry. 

When they got to a coffee shop, Armitage decided to just order a coffee. He’d be spending enough of Kylo’s money later, and he’d already eaten tons of his food. He didn’t need to add an expensive breakfast. But when he ordered a single black coffee, he could see Kylo frowning at him.

“Aren’t you hungry? They have really good food here.”

“I’m not that hungry,” Armitage lied. Of course, his stomach grumbled right at that very moment. 

“Right. Well, I guess I’ll just order for myself then.” Kylo ordered two breakfast burritos and a muffin along with what sounded like it was a sugary coffee beverage. 

They sat down and Kylo got up to get their drinks and food when it was ready. Armitage tried not to think of how hungry he was and how good everything smelled. Then, Kylo pushed one of the burritos towards him. Armitage just stared at him.

“Eat it,” Kylo said. “I know you’re hungry.”

“Thank you,” he said quietly. As much as he liked someone finally being nice to him, he also hated it. He knew it wouldn’t last and he couldn’t help but wonder when Kylo would grow sick of him. Would he be angry? After all, Kylo was spending a lot of money on him. Maybe he would hit him just like Brendol always did.

“Hey, Armitage,” Kylo said. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Here. Have some of this muffin.” Kylo broke a piece of the muffin off and ate it, then slid it towards Armitage. He followed Kylo’s example. He made sure not to eat more of the muffin than Kylo, not wanting to give him any reason to get mad. He wanted to keep Kylo nice for as long as possible.

Soon, they’d finished breakfast and were back in the car. They drove down to a Target and Kylo grabbed a cart at the front door then looked at Armitage. He just looked back at him, not sure what he wanted.

“Whatever you want to get, you can,” Kylp said. “Want to start with clothes?”

“I guess.” Even though Kylo said he would buy him things, it was still hard to believe that it was all real. That he was actually going to do it. And he hadn’t asked for anything in return. That could only mean he was going to ask for something major later on, and the thought made Armitage sick to his stomach.

It was hard to focus on what clothes he wanted because all he could think of was what Kylo would ask for. He didn’t have anything - no money, nothing of value, not even any useful skills. The only thing he could give Kylo was his body. The reason he ran away was because he didn’t want to be forced into a relationship. But it would be different with Kylo. At least Kylo was nice.

Armitage nodded and agreed with all of Kylo’s suggestions about what clothes to buy. Kylo would hold a shirt or a pair of pants up to him and make comments about it and then either toss it in the cart or put it back. It felt like Kylo was dressing him. He probably wanted to dress him up in his own ideal to make him a better partner.

Armitage wondered if he could actually go through with it. Would it be worth it in return for being clothed, fed, and housed? Wouldn’t sleeping with Kylo be better than being out on his own? It wasn’t as if Kylo was unattractive. Really, it wouldn’t be so bad. Except for the fact that Armitage wouldn’t really have much of a choice in the matter. He could either fuck Kylo or go back on the streets.

“Hey, you seem really distracted today,” Kylo said. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yeah,” Armitage said. “I’m just not used to this.”

“Shopping?”

“Yes. And no one’s ever been this nice to me.” Even if Kylo did have ulterior motives, he was still the nicest person Armitage had ever spent time with.

“I’m not being that nice,” Kylo said. He looked as if he were about to say more, but then he just looked sad. “Oh. I’m sorry, Armie.”

“Armie?”

“Yeah, I thought it was a cute version of your name. All right if I call you that?”

Armitage wanted to tell him that he wasn’t cute and that he couldn’t call him by that name, but then he looked at the basket of clothes. He didn’t really care that much what he was called, so he nodded. “You can call me whatever you like.”

“Well I think we have enough clothes for now,” Kylo said. “Let’s get you some shoes and then whatever else you might need. Oh, and some snacks too.”

Kylo wanted to buy him multiple pairs of shoes but Armitage couldn’t let him do it and simply found the least expensive shoes there were. They were ugly, but he wasn’t going to spend any more of Kylo’s money than he had to. 

As promised, Kylo took him around to the rest of the store and made sure he got a toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo, and everything else he might want. Not that Armitage was going to ask for anything, but Kylo would simply ask him which of two things he liked the best and then throw whatever he picked into the cart. Then, they made it to the grocery section.

Armitage wanted everything. He wanted cookies, candy, chips, all of it. He’d never been allowed much junk food, but he’d loved it all when he had a chance. He couldn’t believe Kylo was just going to buy him whatever he wanted. He’d love to grab a little of everything and throw it all into the cart, but he held back. 

“Let’s just go through every aisle,” Kylo suggested after a while of Armitage just staring at the grocery section. “I should get some stuff while we’re here and then you can get whatever you want.”

Armitage walked with Kylo, watching him shop. At first, Kylo seemed to just be grabbing whatever he wanted, but at some point, he must have started paying attention to Armitage. If Armitage looked at anything for more than a few seconds, Kylo would ask if he wanted it. Then, Armitage would shrug or shake his head and say that he didn’t need it. Then it would end up in the cart anyway.

They went through most of the store like that, and by the time they were done, the cart was nearly full. But Kylo still wasn’t done. He went towards the back of the store where they sold blankets and sheets and started asking Armitage’s opinion about those. Kylo then threw a set of ice blue sheets and a gray blanket into the cart along with a pillow.

“Anything else you need?” Kylo asked, but Armitage shook his head. Kylo was already getting him far too much.

When they got to the register and were checking out, that feeling only got stronger. Kylo was spending hundreds of dollars. While some of it was Kylo’s, Armitage knew just how much of it was for him. He couldn’t ever hope to repay Kylo.

By the time they had Kylo’s care loaded up, Armitage’s eyes were stinging with tears. He didn’t want to cry and be weak, but he couldn’t help it. He was happy, but also scared. What was Kylo going to demand in return?

Kylo wasn’t even done being generous, as he stopped to get them lunch as well. It was only fast food, but it was still much nicer than what Armitage was used to. By the time they were unloading the car at Kylo’s apartment, Armitage was fully crying.

“What’s wrong?” Kylo asked. 

“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. 

“You can tell me. It’s all right.”

Armitage looked at Kylo and very much wanted to tell him everything. About how much he appreciated everything that he was doing but also how scared he was of when things went wrong. Would Kylo get sick of him? Or ask him for something in return that Armitage couldn’t give? But as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, he couldn’t think of any words to say.

“Would it be all right if I hugged you?” Kylo asked.

Armitage thought for a moment and then he nodded. That sounded very nice and soon, Kylo had his arms around him and Armitage relaxed against him. Kylo walked with him over to the couch and they sat down. Armitage didn’t know how long he stayed in Kylo’s arms, but he eventually realized exactly what he was doing and pulled away.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I didn’t mean to do… that.” 

“It’s okay,” Kylo said, reaching over to put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been through a lot. Sometimes you just gotta let stuff out.”

“Let stuff out?”

“Yeah. You know. Your emotions or whatever.” Kylo was silent for a moment, but then he started talking again. “I used to see a therapist. That’s what they said. I was a bit destructive and violent when I was in high school. So I had to find a way to let my emotions out in a healthy way. Took me a few years, but I guess I figured it out.”

“How do you know what’s a healthy way?”

Kylo shrugged. “I don’t really know. I think as long as I wasn’t getting into fights and destroying things, no one cared. I guess all those years of therapy kinda boiled down to talk about your feelings and get a hobby.”

“We don’t talk about our feelings where I’m from,” Armitage said. “Had I cried like I just did earlier, I would have been beaten up.”

“That’s horrible.” The hand on his shoulder soon turned into an arm wrapping around him and Armitage found himself resting against Kylo’s chest. He was warm and comfortable and despite not knowing Kylo very well, he couldn’t help but relax. They might have only known each other for a few days but Kylo was the nicest person he’d ever known.

“Why are you doing all this?” Armitage asked after a while. 

“Seemed like you could use a hug.”

“But what about everything else? Buying me clothes and food and letting me stay here?”

“I want to?”

Armitage moved away from Kylo once again. He really wanted to lay against Kylo, but he couldn’t help but think that Kylo did want something, but just wasn’t ready to say so. Armitage knew how the world worked and he knew that no one was going to give him so much and not expect anything in return. Kylo was probably just making sure that Armitage was too comfortable and dependent on him before demanding anything.

Armitage hated to think that things would end up that way, afraid to deny Kylo out of fear of being on his own once again. But maybe he could make it so it was on his own terms. Kylo was at least nice to him. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Especially if Armitage thought he had a choice. 

He looked over Kylo and he really was attractive. At least he had that going for him. And if he initiated things, maybe Kylo wouldn’t be upset if he decided to stop. Of course, it could backfire and he’d end up back on his own. He liked to think that Kylo was nice enough that he wouldn’t do that, but he really didn’t know him that well.

“Armie?”

Armitage realized he’d been staring at Kylo. Without thinking about it any further, Armitage leaned into him, gently pressing his lips to Kylo’s. He really wasn’t sure what to do next, but Kylo put his hands on either side of Armitage’s face. For a moment, Kylo kissed him, but then pushed him away. Armitage worried he’d made a mistake.

“Armie,” Kylo said softly, running his thumb across his cheek. “Is this what you want?”

Armitage could only nod, and soon, Kylo was kissing him again. He shuddered as Kylo’s hands slipped under his shirt. He’d never had anyone touch him so gently, but no matter how soft Kylo’s touches were, Armitage couldn’t help but flinch when Kylo’s hand brushed over one of the bruises that still covered his body.

Kylo pulled away from him and Armitage thought that Kylo didn’t want him. Maybe he was so bad at kissing that he wanted to be done with him entirely. But Kylo’s hands were still on him and Armitage just stayed where he was, afraid to move.

“I should have taken you to the hospital,” Kylo said. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s getting better.” Armitage had no idea why Klylo was talking about that. It wasn’t important.

Kylo grabbed the bottom of Armitage’s shirt and very slowly lifted it up. Armitage didn’t need to look to know what Kylo saw there. Although he’d been away from Brendol for nearly two weeks, he still carried the bruises.

“I’m sorry,” Kylo said, pulling Armitage’s shirt back down. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No. Are you stopping?”

“As much as I’d like to continue, I don’t want to hurt you. Maybe once you’ve recovered. Then I’ll do whatever you want.”

“You don’t need to worry about hurting me. I don’t want to wait.” He just wanted to get things over with and know how bad it would be.

“Just a couple of nights ago you said you didn’t want to fuck me. Now you do?”

“Yes.”

“This is about me buying you all that stuff, isn’t it? You don’t need to do this because of that.”

Armitage knew that’s what Kylo would ask for eventually - it was the only thing he could give him. He wanted Kylo to just take what he was offering, but at the same time, the fact that he was concerned about hurting him was nice. No one else had ever cared before.

“What else do you want from me?” Armitage asked.

“I don’t want anything,” Kylo said, shaking his head. “I just wanted to help you. And I like you. I like to think we’re friends.”

“And how long until you decide that’s not enough?” Armitage asked.

“I’m not going to demand sex,” Kylo said. “I wouldn’t have a problem with it, but if you don’t actually want to have sex, then I don’t either.”

Armitage wanted to believe him. He really wanted to believe that decent people could exist, but all his experience told him that wasn’t true, that it was all an act. Kylo might pretend to be better than that, but Armitage knew how it would end - he’d either be in Kylo’s bed or out on his own. At least he knew what he’d pick, at least at the moment.

He rested his head back on Kylo’s chest. As long as Kylo treated him better than Brendol, Armitage would stay. No matter what he asked of him.


	3. Chapter 3

Every day after work, Kylo was excited to rush home to Armitage. He’d never been very close to anyone else besides his sister, but she was much younger than him, which made her hard to talk to at times. Armitage really was the first friend he’d ever had. Even if Armitage seemed to have trouble believing that.

Armitage hadn’t said much about his family, but Kylo knew he had been given little reason to trust others. In time, Kylo hoped to change that. Ever since Armitage had kissed him, Kylo hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. He wanted to kiss him and so much more, but not if Armitage didn’t really want to. He didn’t want Armitage to feel like he was obligated to sleep with him.

But if Armitage truly wanted to, Kylo was more than happy to do so. He just had no idea how he would tell. It wasn’t something Kylo was going to bring up - Armitage was attractive, but he was also a good friend and Kylo was happy enough to leave their relationship at that.

The other thing that Kylo enjoyed was spoiling Armitage. He wasn’t even buying him anything all that nice, but the look on Armitage’s face when he first put on his new shoes or trying a new type of candy always made Kylo smile. He would love to see Armitage’s reaction to some really nice things, like a fancy dinner at a restaurant, but he didn’t think that would end so well. Armitage already felt like he owed Kylo, and no matter how many times Kylo told him that he didn’t, he could see Armitage didn’t believe him.

When he walked into his apartment on Friday night, he saw Hux sprawled out on the couch, reading a book. His ears and tail were visible - the most comfortable way for him to stay in a mostly human form, he’d said. 

“Hey Kylo,” Armitage said, not putting his book down. Kylo smiled, glad he was so comfortable in his apartment. And his clothes. Although he had his own, Armitage still liked to wear Kylo’s hoodies. Kylo did not mind at all.

“Hey Armie,” Kylo greeted. “Um.” 

Before he could get his thoughts in order to speak, Armitage had put the book down against his chest and was looking up at Kylo. He almost looked scared and Kylo knew he had to say something quick so Armitage didn’t worry.

“I was thinking that you might like to go out tonight,” Kylo said. “Go get some dinner? Or whatever else you’d like to do?”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” He stood up, leaving his book on the couch.

“Um, no. Not unless you want it to be a date. It can be. But it doesn’t have to be. I just thought you might want to go somewhere.”

“And how is this date going to end?” he asked, putting a hand on Kylo’s hip. Kylo couldn’t help but shudder at his touch. He loved what he was suggesting, but he wasn’t going to take advantage of Armitage. 

“If it goes well? Maybe a kiss.”

“Just a kiss?” Armitage asked, sliding his hand behind Kylo.

“It is a first date,” Kylo said. “I wouldn’t want to push my date into anything he’s not comfortable with.”

“And if he’s comfortable with mind-blowing sex on the first date?”

“Are you?”

Armitage looked scared for a moment and that told Kylo all he needed to know. He still thought sex was what was expected of him and Kylo hated whoever made him think that way. If Armitage ever told him just who had done that and where to find them, Kylo wasn’t sure he wouldn’t be able to hold back from throwing a few punches.

“It’s all right,” Kylo said, putting a hand on his arm. “Let’s just go out and have a nice night, okay? No expectations.”

Armitage nodded and stepped away from Kylo. He looked down and then up at Kylo. “Um. What should I wear?”

“Whatever you’re comfortable in,” Kylo said. “I’m going to change out of my work clothes. Wasn’t planning on going anywhere fancy. Just a steak place, maybe?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Armitage smiled and Kylo couldn’t help but smile too. He liked seeing the fox happy. “I’ll put some real pants on.”

“I’ll go change too,” Kylo said. He went to his bedroom and quickly changed into jeans and a t-shirt. When he walked back out, Armitage was wearing jeans as well, and his tail and ears were nowhere in sight. Kylo liked his fox features, but he couldn’t deny that he looked very nice without them too.

“You ready?” Kylo asked and Armitage nodded.

He was pretty quiet as they drove and it was only when Kylo was pulling into the parking lot that Armitage finally spoke.

“You don’t have to do this,” Armitage said. 

“I know. But I want to.” He wanted to tell Armitage that he deserved it, especially after everyone else in his life had apparently been so terrible to him, but he thought that might be a little much. Kylo wanted Armitage to be comfortable around him. 

Almost immediately, Kylo realized that Armitage wasn’t quite comfortable. He’d only ordered water to drink, but Kylo knew he had a fondness for sweeter beverages. Sure that Armitage was being shy about ordering what he really wanted, Kylo ordered lemonade as well. When their drinks arrived, Kylo took a small sip and then offered some to Armitage.

“You can have it if you like,” Kylo said. “Or order one for yourself.”

“No, that’s okay.”

“Armie, you can order whatever you want. It’s okay. Remember when I first found you and you tried to eat an entire chicken? You didn’t seem to mind eating whatever you wanted.”

“And you thought I was a dog and I wasn’t planning on staying.”

“Yeah and when I thought you were a dog, I was mad you were stealing my food. But I am more than happy to get my friend whatever he wants so he’ll be happy.”

“I feel bad spending your money when I can’t ever repay you.”

“You really don’t have to worry about it. Um.” Kylo paused, trying to think of how much he should tell Armitage. There were some things he hadn’t told anyone else in his life, but he couldn’t consider anyone else a friend. “My family has a lot of money. It really isn’t a big deal to spend a little money on you.”

Armitage just stared at him and Kylo had no idea if that was a good thing or bad thing. Had he said the wrong thing? Did the fact that he had a wealthy family change something? Kylo hoped not. He liked the way things were between them.

“If you have so much money, why are you in such a tiny apartment?”

“Oh. Um. Well. I sort of had a falling out with most of my family. Things are better now. But I’d lived on my own for a while and just didn’t want to give it up. I could buy a house, I suppose. Just never really thought about it.”

“Well, if you could just casually go out and buy a house like it’s nothing, then I suppose I can let you buy me a steak.”

“Exactly,” Kylo said with a grin. He hated telling anyone about his family, and especially that he came from a wealthy family, but it felt right telling Armitage about it. 

Armitage ended up ordering a lemonade and a decently sized steak and Kylo was glad to see him become more comfortable. As they ate, Kylo talked a little more about his family and his job. Not that he had much to say about work. It was just a boring desk job, but it took care of his living expenses so he didn’t need to use his savings.

Kylo wanted to ask Armitage more about himself, but he knew that was likely a sensitive subject. If Armitage ever wanted to offer anything on his own, Kylo would be glad to listen, but he wasn’t going to ask about it. But there was one thing Kylo couldn’t help but ask about.

“So I know you have the shapeshifter thing going on,” Kylo said as they went through a walk in a nearby park after dinner. “But do you have any other cool powers? Like laser eyes? Shooting fireballs?”

Armitage laughed a little. “No. Only thing I can do is turn into a fox.”

“So are there other types of shapeshifters? Or are you all foxes? Oh. Um. If any of this is too personal, you don’t have to tell me.”

“No, it’s okay. There’s other types too. All kinds of shapeshifters. My… pack. They are mostly canines of some kind. But there were a few other types as well.”

“I still can’t believe you’re actually a shapeshifter. I’m friends with a shapeshifter.”

“Yes. About that. I probably should have said something earlier, but you haven’t told anyone, have you? Because it’s really something that needs to be secret.”

“I don’t have anyone else to tell,” Kylo said. “Your secret’s safe with me. Well, there’s my sister. I sent her pictures of you as a fox. But that’s all she knows. I told her I put the fox outside and haven’t said anything else. Haven’t even told her about you living with me.”

“Thank you.” Armitage’s fingers brushed against Kylo’s hand. Kylo very gently closed his hand over Armitage’s, leaving his hand loose so Armitage could pull free if he wanted. Instead, Armitage tightened his hold on Kylo.

They changed their topic of conversation. Instead of talking about themselves, Kylo complained about some of his coworkers and Armitage helped Kylo make fun of them. This soon turned into mocking others around them and Kylo couldn’t remember ever having so much fun just walking around.

They talked all the way home and for the first time, Kylo thought Armitage was finally comfortable around him. Kylo also couldn’t help but thinking about how he told Armitage that he might kiss him at the end of their date and as he pulled into the parking lot, he couldn’t help but wonder when he should do that. Should he do it in the car? But he wasn’t dropping him off. Maybe inside the apartment, but then Armitage might think Kylo expected more.

Kylo ran out of time and Armitage was opening the car door. Kylo had been so distracted that he hadn’t even realized that a car was parked right behind his car until he got out. That was odd, but Kylo didn’t think too much about it until the car door opened and an older, bald man stepped out. At first, Kylo thought maybe he was lost but he was staring at Armitage.

Glancing over at Armitage, Kylo realized something was very, very wrong. He was frozen in place and he looked terrified. Kylo immediately moved around the car, putting himself between Armitage and the man.

“Armie,” Kylo said, trying to get his attention, but Armitage’s eyes were locked on the other man.

“We’ve been wondering where you’ve run off to,” the man said. “You come quietly and your father might be a little bit more forgiving.”

Kylo didn’t need to know anymore - Armitage was frightened and clearly the man was connected to his past, and Kylo knew enough to know he could return to that. He turned to the man, ready to fight him.

“Get out of here!” Kylo shouted. “He’s not going anywhere with you!”

“Who are you?” the man asked, taking a step closer.

“Don’t,” Armitage said quietly, grabbing Kylo’s arm. “Let’s go.”

Kylo wanted to fight him, but if Armitage really didn’t want him to, he wouldn’t. He wanted to keep him safe and make him happy, and he could do that easily without fighting anyone. He put an arm around Armitage and walked with him inside his building. 

“Don’t turn the lights on,” Armitage said as they walked in the door of the apartment. “He’s probably watching.”

“It’s all right,” Kylo said. “I’m not going to let him hurt you.” He closed the door and made sure it was locked behind him, but he left the lights off. The man didn’t look particularly dangerous, but Kylo would do whatever it took to put Armitage at ease.

“Who was that?” Kylo asked, resisting the urge to peer out the window. If he was watching, that might be enough to give away which apartment they were in.

“Brooks,” Armitage said. “He’s from my old pack. I don’t know how he found us. I never should have gone out. I’m so stupid!”

“Hey, Armie,” Kylo put his arms around him and could feel that he was shaking. “Everything’s going to be all right. He doesn’t know which apartment you live in and the door to the building is locked. And even if he got inside, how would he know where you live?”

“But he knows! He’ll tell my father! They’ll have someone sitting outside and waiting for me! What happens if they’re all out there at once? They’ll force me to go with them!”

“Armie.” Kylo could only hold him tighter. He wanted to tell him that everything would be fine, but he knew that he was terrified. There wasn’t much he could say. But Kylo would do whatever it took to make sure he stayed safe. 

“If they’re hanging around, we can have them removed from the property. You know. Trespassing or something. And I can sneak out of the building to go to work, okay? That way they don’t see me leave. If you want, I can have someone stay with you. So you’re not here alone.”

“Kylo.” He was pressing himself closer to him, like he was trying to disappear against him. Kylo wished he could do more to make him feel safer. “I don’t want to go back.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

He felt that Armitage was moving and shrinking under his hands and for a moment, Kylo wasn’t sure what was happening. Then he realized that he was shifting into his fox form. Kylo didn’t let go of him, holding on to him and hoping that would be enough for him to feel safe.

Eventually, Kylo realized that Armitage had fallen asleep, so he gently put him down on the couch and covered him with a blanket. He’d be safe there. Kylo considered stepping outside to see if the man was still out there, but if Armitage woke up and found himself alone, he might panic, so Kylo decided to stay inside.

When he was getting ready for bed, he heard a light scratch on his bedroom door. The door wasn’t closed, but Armitage was sitting just outside, looking at him. Even in his fox form, he looked afraid.

“You can come in,” Kylo said. 

Armitage didn’t hesitate and he immediately climbed onto the bed. Once Kylo had settled down, Armitage curled up next to him. Kylo wasn’t sure he would sleep well with someone else in his bed, but he soon found himself very comfortable and drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Armitage wanted to do nothing more than curl up and hide against Kylo forever. At least there he could feel safe. He should have known that he never would be allowed to be free - Brendol knew where he was hiding now and would come for him. He wasn’t sure if it was better or worse to have had that taste of freedom, along with what it was like to be cared for.

Kylo had seemed more than willing to get into a fight with Brooks, and Armitage wondered if Kylo would really risk himself to try to protect him. It was a nice thought that he would do that, but he also knew that wasn’t likely. Kylo probably wouldn’t have done anymore than yell at him. Had Brooks thrown a punch, Kylo would have given up - after all, Armitage really wasn’t worth saving.

Just thinking about Brooks and how Brendol would know where to find him was enough to make Armitage shake - he could only imagine what Brendol would do to him when he found him. As much as he wanted to stay with Kylo, he knew he needed to leave. It was his only chance at staying away from Brendol.

Armitage stayed where he was for just a little bit longer, wanting to feel warm and safe for as long as possible, but eventually, he knew he needed to get up and figure out how he was going to escape without being seen. He started to get up, but he felt Kylo’s arm tighten around him, which made it even more tempting to stay there with him. But he needed to get up and make a plan.

He carefully extracted himself from Kylo’s arms, feeling Kylo stir as he did so. Armitage glanced at him and saw that he was starting to wake up. That wasn’t what he wanted. Kylo would probably want to talk about things, which would require that Armitage shift into his human form and he’d much rather stay as a fox. He felt safer that way.

“Armie?” Kylo called as Armitage jumped off the bed. For a moment, he considered hiding under the bed and trying to make Kylo think he’d already left. Then he wouldn’t have to bother saying goodbye. But Kylo had been so good to him and Armitage didn’t want to leave him like that.

He jumped back on the bed and Kylo immediately reached out for him, running a hand down his back. Armitage wanted to curl back up against him and let Kylo pet him, but he couldn’t. And then Kylo stopped petting him.

“Is this okay?” he asked, his hand still on him. “I’m sorry. I should have asked.”

Armitage nodded and then gave into his desires and sat down next to Kylo, who started to pet him once again. Armitage leaned up against Kylo, enjoying how warm and safe he felt. Why couldn’t he have stayed safe with Kylo? He’d been happy with him and now he was going to have to leave.

He’d finally found someone that was nice to him, someone that seemed to actually like him. He had a warm place to sleep, food, clothes - everything he’d ever wanted. It wasn’t fair that he had to give it up so soon. He’d have to go back to living on the street, struggling to find food and shelter every day.

Kylo was still petting him, telling him that everything would be okay and Armitage couldn’t listen to that anymore. It wasn’t going to be okay. He nipped at Kylo’s hand and then took off, darting away from the bedroom. He didn’t want Kylo to be nice to him. If he treated him like everyone else in his life, it would be easy to walk away. He wouldn’t have to care.

Armitage hated everything. He hated that Brooks had found him and he hated that Kylo was so nice to him. Mostly, he hated himself for letting himself get comfortable with Kylo. He shouldn’t have stayed. He should have disappeared the same night he arrived. Then he never would have known how safe he could feel.

“Armie?” Kylo had followed him to the living room and Armitage turned towards him, growling and showing his teeth. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Kylo sat down on the floor and Armitage wished he would hurt him. If he turned out to be just as bad as everyone else, the Hux wouldn’t have to be upset about leaving. He could just hate Kylo like he hated everyone else.

“I know you’re scared, but don’t you want to talk about this? We don’t have to. You can stay like this for as long as you want, but I do have to go to work on Monday. I guess I could call in, but I can’t do that forever. At some point, we should talk. Whenever you’re ready.”

Why was Kylo still being nice to him? He didn’t want that. Armitage growled at him, raising his hackles. He wanted Kylo to yell at him or hit him or kick him out. It would be so much easier that way. But even as he growled, Armitage wanted to curl up in his lap. 

“I’m going to be in my room,” Kylo said as he slowly got up. “Feel free to come in if you want to talk. Or just don’t want to be alone.”

When Kylo left, Armitage realized he was shaking. As much as he wanted Kylo to treat him like everyone else, he was also scared that he would. And he was relieved that he was still nice. He knew that Kylo was right and he should talk to him. Maybe Kylo would help him get away from Brooks and Brendol.

Once he’d calmed down, Armitage shifted back into his human form, although he didn’t bother hiding his ears and tail. He dressed quickly, glancing at Kylo’s hoodie that was laying on the couch. It was far too big on him, but it was very comfortable and Armitage wanted to put it on so he would feel safer. Kylo’s hoodie almost felt like armor. But he needed to get used to not having that. 

Wearing only pajama pants and a t-shirt, he walked into Kylo’s room. Kylo was sitting on his bed, looking at his laptop, but he quickly put it to the side when Armitage walked in.

“Are you okay?” Kylo asked. He started walking towards him, but he stopped, staying a safe distance away. Armitage shook his head and although he’d only wanted to tell Kylo that he had to leave, he couldn’t help but close the distance between him and Kylo and he fell into him, letting Kylo wrap his arms around him and hold him up.

“Armie,” Kylo said softly, gently rubbing his back as he walked with him over to the bed. He sat down, and Armitage ended up in his lap. It would have been perfect had Armitage not been aware of the fact that it was the last time someone would hold him like that.

“I have to go,” Armitage said after a while.

“Where?” Kylo asked. “You said you didn’t have anyone else.”

“I’ll figure something out.”

“Armie, no,” Kylo said, bringing a hand up to stroke his hair and ears. “I know you’re scared, but let me help. We can figure out what to do together.”

“Brooks knows where I am. That means everyone does. They’re not going to just let me go.”

“Okay, but I can’t just let you go back out on the street by yourself.”

“Why not?” Armitage pushed away from Kylo, although he was still sitting in his lap. “You hardly know me.”

“I like you?” Kylo shrugged. “We’re friends and that means I’m going to help you out however I can. And I’m definitely not going to let you try to survive on the streets on your own. Not when I can help.”

“You have no idea what these people are capable of.”

“You don’t know what I’m capable of.”

Armitage wanted to believe that Kylo was more dangerous than his father and could actually protect him, but he knew that wasn’t true. It was a sweet thought that Kylo would try to protect him, but he couldn’t stop Brendol and all the rest of them.

“So we have to get you out of here, right? And you need a place to stay.” Armitage nodded and Kylo smiled. “I have an idea. We will need to tell one other person about you though.”

“I can’t!”

“I know. It needs to be a secret. But it’s my sister. We can trust her.”

Armitage had it drilled into his head from the time he was a child that no one could ever know exactly what he was. They had to stay hidden from humans or they’d be locked up and kept in a laboratory and experimented on. But he’d told Kylo and that had worked out. Maybe telling one more would be all right. He could at least listen to Kylo’s idea and see what he had in mind.

“I’m not saying yes, but what’s the plan?”

“Simple. We know they know what I look like. So we have my sister come over and she carries you out in a box. I’ll leave first with a dog carrier or something so if they’re out there watching, they follow me and won’t even be paying attention to her. Then she’ll take you somewhere safe.”

“Where? Where would I be safe?”

“Um. Okay. So you may not like this idea but the best place will be my parents’ house. I’ll go there too once I’m sure I haven’t been followed. They’ll let you stay and they don’t need to know about the fox thing.”

Armitage wanted to tell him that it wouldn’t work and that somehow, he’d be followed to the new place. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was probably better than staying in the apartment where they already knew where he was.

“What if your parents don’t let me stay?” Armitage asked. “What if your sister won’t help?”

“She will. Rey’s never given up a chance for some excitement. And my parents won’t turn away someone in need. Even if they do at least it’d be easier to run off from there since no one will see you.”

Kylo had a point. As long as he could get away from the apartment, then he could go into hiding without worrying about being seen by Brendol or one of his people. And if Kylo’s sister did tell someone else about what he was, then what did it matter? He could always disappear, and who would believe her story anyway? It would be safe enough.

“Okay,” Armitage agreed. “We’ll try your plan. How long until we can do this?”

“I’ll text my sister now.” Kylo wrapped one arm around Armitage as he shifted around to get his phone from his pocket. Armitage would have simply gotten up, but Kylo kept him in place and it wasn’t that Armitage could complain. Kylo was still keeping him safe and Armitage couldn’t let go of that.

Armitage started to relax in Kylo’s arms, glancing at his phone as he texted. At first, Armitage thought that Kylo was wrong and that his sister wouldn’t help because her first message was, “Why would I help you?”

He continued to read the exchange and although Kylo didn’t tell her much in the messages, he soon had her agreeing to come over with a small dog carrier and a cardboard box. She had been surprisingly easy to convince, Armitage thought and that made him worry, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

Armitage put his head on Kylo’s shoulder and Kylo put both his arms around him. He knew he probably shouldn’t get so used to being held like that. As he’d just learned, he never seemed to be able to have anything good. Someone would take Kylo away from him, but he couldn’t help himself. He wanted to be held for as long as possible.

When he heard the door to the apartment opening, he jumped in Kylo’s arms and Kylo held him tighter, reassuring him as he stood up. Armitage didn’t want to let go, but he didn’t want Kylo to hate him for being so clingy.

“Why didn’t you knock?” he heard Kylo saying, and he sounded angry. Armitage had never heard Kylo sound that way and it terrified him. Maybe he really was just like everyone else.

“I never knock,” a woman was saying. “Why would I knock now?”

“Because there’s a situation!”

“Well I didn’t know that because you didn’t say anything in your text!”

“It’s a secret!”

“Well you could have said that along with please knock so I would know! You’re so stupid!”

“Can we just do this already?”

“Yes. I can’t wait to be done with you.”

Armitage heard footsteps approaching and he quickly hid his ears and tail. He knew he was going to have to show Kylo’s sister what he was, but he couldn’t help himself from hiding it initially. He told himself to stop shaking, but he couldn’t - Kylo had been mad and he was worried that he would take it out on him.

“Armie?” Kylo was soon kneeling on the bed in front of him, holding his hand. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sorry.”

He spoke softly but Hux couldn’t help but notice just how large Kylo’s hands were. Kylo might be gentle at the moment, but Armitage couldn’t help but think of what kind of damage he might be able to do with those hands.

“What is this?” the woman said, and Armitage looked at the door to see a young woman with her brown hair up in three buns. “You have a boyfriend?”

“No,” Kylo said. “This is Armie. He’s a friend of mine and we’re having some trouble with some people he knows.”

“Is this illegal? This better not be illegal.”

“No, it’s not. Armie, this is my sister. Rey. Do you want to tell her?”

Armitage nodded and looked at Rey. Kylo had been the first person he’d revealed himself to and that had been surprisingly easy. He wasn’t sure he could do it with Rey. “My family is trying to force me to go back with them and they’ve found me here,” he said, explaining the easy part.

“Okay,” she said. “And you need me because? How can someone make him do anything?”

“I’m not exactly what you think,” Armitage said. He stood up, as did Kylo. Armitage knew he needed to show Rey, but he was still nervous. “Do you remember Kylo sending you pictures of a fox?”

“Yes?”

“Well, that was me.” Knowing Rey wouldn’t believe him, he let his ears and tail show. He watched her, waiting for her to scream or laugh or do something, but she only looked at him, almost in amazement.

“That’s so cool! How’d you do that?”

“Rey, he’s a shapeshifter,” Kylo explained. He brushed his hand up against Armitage’s, and Armitage grabbed hold of it, needing to hold on to someone. 

“I’m not sure I believe you, but that explains the dog kennel. Whatever. So what am I supposed to do?”

Armitage couldn’t believe she was handling things so well. But Kylo had seemed to take it pretty well too, so maybe it was just a family trait. That could only be a good thing, Armitage thought. Brendol had never stood for anything that he thought was out of the ordinary. 

Kylo quickly explained the plan and Rey agreed to it quickly, even asking if she should call a friend so Kylo could transfer the empty dog kennel to help distract Brooks or Peavey or whoever Brendol had watching the apartment. Hux didn’t know who was out there, but he was certain someone would be there.

Armitage wasn’t paying attention as Kylo and Rey worked out the final details of the plan, but it didn’t really matter. All he had to do was get in a box and hope that Rey would carry him to safety. He really wished that Kylo would have been the one taking him out, but he knew why that couldn’t happen. He hated trusting a stranger, but he did trust Kylo and if Kylo trusted Rey, then Armitage could too.

“All right Armie,” Kylo said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. “Let’s get a few of your things packed up in the box. If you’re going to need anything that won’t fit, I can sneak back over and grab it later.”

Armitage still didn’t have much so he put a few changes of clothes in the box and then he shifted into his fox form. He shrunk down, his limbs becoming entangled in the fabric of his clothes, but he managed to pull himself free. Once he had fully shifted, he took one look at Rey and saw that she hadn’t expected that. Not liking the attention, Armitage quickly hopped into the box.

“I’ll see you soon,” Kylo said, looking into the box with a smile. “Rey, make sure you wait five minutes until after I leave.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Armitage stood up on his hind legs, resting his front paws on the edge of the box and watched Kylo leave. Once he was gone, he dropped back down to hide in the box. At least he couldn’t speak in his fox form so there was no pressure for him to try to have a conversation with Rey. Not that she didn’t speak enough for the both of them. He tuned her out and curled up, waiting until she would pick up the box.

Finally, he felt the box moving and Armitage did his best to hold still so he didn’t make it too awkward for her to carry. He couldn’t help but try to look out the holes in the side of the box, though, keeping an eye out for any of his pack. He didn’t see anyone, but he really couldn’t see much at all to begin with. Finally, he felt the box being set down and heard the sound of car doors closing.

“You can come out of the box now,” Rey said as the car started. “If you want.”

Armitage wanted to get out and take a look around, but if someone was still out there watching, then, he didn’t want to risk them seeing him. It was best to keep hidden and maybe Kylo’s plan would work out. 

It felt like a long drive, but Armitage knew it was only because he was in a box and couldn’t even look out the window. It would have been safe enough to jump out once they were away from Kylo’s apartment, but Armitage didn’t want to take any chances. And the box at least provided a little protection from Rey’s singing.

The car shut off and he soon felt the box being picked up again. After a short walk, he was set down. Looking out from the hole in the side, he could see he was indoors, but couldn’t tell much about the room itself.

“I’m going to leave,” Rey announced. “So you can come out and go back to human or whatever. I can show you around the house if you want or get you a drink or something. Or you can just wait for Kylo.”

Hux waited until he heard the door close and then he finally climbed out of the box. He was in a bedroom and something told him that it had once been Kylo’s. There were posters of bands that Armitage had never heard of and everything was dark in color. He could easily imagine a younger Kylo living in that room. He sniffed around but he couldn’t smell Kylo, but that didn’t surprise him. Kylo had mentioned that he’d had some trouble with his family before.

Although he felt a little safer in his fox form, he knew he’d eventually need to shift back to human so he could talk to people, and he knew that once Kylo arrived, he’d want to show him around. He shifted quickly and threw his clothes on, then sat on the bed, not having anything to do but wait for Kylo.

Eventually, there was a knock on the door and Armitage jumped up, wanting to open the door and hug Kylo. But the house had been so quiet and he didn’t think anyone else had come in the front door.

“Armie?” Rey called. “Kylo called and said he’s not being followed and is on his way. He thinks it’ll be about twenty minutes. You need anything?”

“No, thank you.” 

“All right. Feel free to shout if you change your mind. I’m the only one home right now so you can make as much noise as you want.”

“Okay.”

Armitage sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling awkward in the room. He really wished Kylo was there, but he knew it wouldn’t be much longer before he arrived. Having nothing else to do, Armitage looked around the room, hoping that Kylo wouldn’t feel like he’d invaded his privacy. But it was either that or just sit there with his eyes closed.

There was a computer on a desk along with a bunch of CDs and a few books. There was also a bookshelf that had a few more books, but was mostly taken up with action figures. Somehow, that didn’t surprise Armitage. What was most interesting was a table with what looked like a bunch of tubes of paint on it. He wondered if that belonged to Kylo or if someone else had been working in the room. As far as he knew, Kylo didn’t spend any time doing art, but he also remembered that he didn’t really know him.

He might not know Kylo that well, but he did know one very important thing about him: he was the kindest person Armitage had ever met and he was grateful he’d stumbled across him.


	5. Chapter 5

Kylo ran into the house, not surprised to find it unlocked. Growing up, they’d never really locked their doors and that hadn’t changed. Someone would have to be an idiot to try to break into that house and Kylo was counting on that to keep Armitage safe. That and the fact that no one would know where he was.

“Where is he?” Kylo demanded as soon as he saw Rey.

“Really? You’re not even going to say thank you?”

“Now’s not the time!” Kylo snapped. “Where’s Armie?”

“In your room,” Rey said, rolling her eyes.

Kylo didn’t pay any more attention to her and ran up the stairs two at a time, needing to see for himself that Armitage was perfectly fine. He knew that he was probably scared still and he remembered just in time not to go bursting through the door. He didn’t want to frighten him any more. Instead, he knocked on the door.

“Armie? It’s me. Can I come in?”

“Yes,” Armitage said immediately.

Kylo opened the door and saw Armitage sitting on his old bed. It was strange being back in his old room and it was even stranger to see Armitage there. He’d never had friends to bring home when he’d lived there. He glanced around the room, a little surprised to see that no one had cleared it out, but Armitage was the most important thing he needed to worry about.

“You okay?” Kylo asked. Armitage nodded and Kylo knew that something was wrong. He sat down on the bed next to him. “I’m sure this is weird for you. It’s weird for me too.”

“What do we do now?” Armitage asked.

“Don’t know,” Kylo said with a shrug. “Didn’t think that far ahead. I just wanted to get you out of the apartment. You’re safe now.”

“Until they find me again.”

“They’re not going to find you,” Kylo assured him. 

Armitage was silent for a few moments and Kylo worried he’d said the wrong thing. Then, Armitage put his head on Kylo’s shoulder and cuddled up to him. Kylo wrapped his arms around him and held him, glad that Armitage felt safe enough with him to do that.

“I’m sorry,” Armitage said. “I’m not usually like this.”

“It’s all right,” Kylo said, lightly rubbing his back. “I don’t mind.”

“You know what would have happened had I acted like this back home?” Armitage asked, lifting his head but staying close. “I would have been beaten and then locked in a closet for a few days. They would have told me they’d give me something to cry about.”

“Armie.” Kylo’s heart broke hearing that and he couldn’t help but pull him back into a hug. If anyone needed a hug, it was Armitage. He wanted nothing more than to keep him safe forever. He’d never let anyone harm him again. Of course, he’d have to get Armitage to agree to let him protect him. He wasn’t sure if he really wanted to stay. Not that Kylo could blame him. He didn’t want to be at his childhood home either.

“Hey,” Kylo said after a while. “How about I show you around? If we stay here, you’ll have to meet the rest of my family, but you don’t have to tell them your secret.”

Armitage nodded and Kylo stood up, keeping hold of Armitage’s hand. It made Kylo feel better about being in the house - a place he once swore to never return - and he hoped it made Armitage feel better too.

Kylo showed him the bathroom and then took him downstairs and walked around, showing him where everything he might need was. Nothing much had changed since he’d left, although there was a bigger TV and a few new gaming systems.

“You grew up here?” Armitage asked while looking out the window in the kitchen.

“Yeah,” Kylo said. 

“When you said your family had money, I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this.”

“It’s really not that much,” Kylo started to say.

“Kylo. You have a library in this house. Two giant TVs. A massive backyard. I don’t think I can stay here.”

“Of course you can.” Kylo knew Armitage didn’t think he deserved anything and he couldn’t help but pull him into a hug. “You don’t have to, but there’s no reason you can’t stay here for as long as you want.”

“It’s not even your house,” Armitage said, pulling away from him. Kylo couldn’t help but think he looked scared and he couldn’t blame him. Kylo was scared being there and he knew his parents. For Armitage, the thought of meeting someone new must be terrifying given how almost everyone else seemed to have treated him.

“My parents have a thing for taking people in,” Kylo said, hoping that much was still true. “I grew up with what looked like a giant family but most of them weren’t actually related to us. Just people who needed a place to stay for a while.” 

“And what if they don’t like me? What if they don’t want me here?”

“Then we’ll leave,” Kylo said. “We can go anywhere you want, but just give them a chance, okay? If you don’t want to stay or they’re not willing to let you stay, then the two of us will go somewhere else, but let’s not worry about that yet.”

“I thought you said you weren’t boyfriends.”

Kylo turned his head while pulling Armitage tighter against him, relaxing only when he realized it was Rey walking into the kitchen. “We’re not,” Kylo said, although the idea of that was rather nice. He let go of Armitage, but he couldn’t help but think about if dating was even an option. Given everything Armitage had been through lately, Kylo guessed it wasn’t the best time.

“Sounds like you are,” Rey said. “And you don’t have to worry about mom and dad letting him stay. They already know. They don’t care.”

“Were you listening to us?” Kylo wasn’t really surprised, but he should have known that his sister would have been lurking around somewhere.

“I wasn’t trying to,” she said. “You’re just so loud that everyone can hear you. Anyway, I texted mom and she’s excited to see you.”

“Ugh.” Kylo didn’t really want to think about seeing his parents. He knew he’d have to see them, but it seemed so much more inevitable now that they knew he was there. Running off before either of them got home was still an option, but he thought Rey might try to stop him. 

“So. Are you going to tell me how you ended up not dating a shapeshifter?”

“No. And you can’t tell anyone about that.”

“I know. But no one else is home right now. So come on. I helped you out. Tell me.”

“I got a better idea.” Kylo reached into his pocket and brought out his wallet, giving Rey his credit card. “Why don’t you go pick up something to eat? Whatever you want. Just bring enough back for us too, okay?”

Rey seemed to think for a moment, but then she grabbed the card and took off. Kylo sighed. It was probably a mistake to let her take his credit card, but it was the easiest way to get rid of her for a moment. It would be too much to hope for that she would forget that Armitage was a shapeshifter but maybe Kylo could find another distraction for her later.

“Come on,” Kylo said, offering his hand to Armitage. He led him out of the kitchen and into the TV room where they sat down on the couch. “I know this is probably a lot. Do you know where you might want to go if you don’t want to stay here? I can get us a hotel room somewhere. We could even leave the state if that’d be better.”

Armitage was silent for a few moments, but Kylo didn’t try to pressure him. It was a lot to think about. Kylo hated to ask him to try to figure out his future plans when he really should have been taking a few days and letting himself relax, but he thought Armitage might be more at ease if he had a plan of some kind.

“We?” Armitage finally spoke. “If I have to leave, it’s just going to be me.”

“What? Why?” Kylo couldn’t believe that Armitage didn’t want him to go with him. Kylo thought they were friends. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” Armitage said, shaking his head and reaching for Kylo’s hand. “You’ve done too much for me. I can’t ask you to leave your job and family behind.”

“You don’t have to ask. I don’t care about my job and I don’t talk to my family that much anyway. I’d much rather go with you. Doesn’t matter where you go. I want to be there.”

Armitage was the first person in a very long time that Kylo truly felt comfortable around. He didn’t have to hide who he was or pretend to be someone he wasn’t. They may have only known each other a month, but Kylo already knew there was nothing he wouldn’t do for Armitage. He’d go with him, no matter where they ended up and he’d protect him from anyone that tried to harm him.

Armitage leaned against him, resting his head on Kylo’s chest. Kylo wrapped his arms around him and held him. He raised one hand so he could stroke Armitage’s hair and Kylo soon realized that his fox ears were visible. His fingertips brushed over the soft fur of one of his ears and Armitage sat up quickly, his ears no longer visible.

“Sorry,” Kylo said. “I didn’t realize. I didn’t mean to touch your ear.”

“No, it’s okay,” Armitage said, resting against Kylo once again. “I didn’t realize my ears were out. That doesn’t usually happen.”

“So is it okay if I touch your ears?” Kylo asked, noting that they were back. Armitage nodded and Kylo immediately put his hand back on his head, lightly stroking his ears. They were so soft and Kylo had an urge to kiss the tips of them. He knew he needed to restrain himself - Armitage had already been through enough and he didn’t need Kylo putting any more pressure on him. If he asked, he knew Armitage would let him do what he wanted, but Kylo needed to know that he was truly okay with it.

Kylo liked to imagine that someday, the two of them might have more than just a friendship. They did have that one date that had gone well until everything went horribly wrong. Maybe when things calmed down, they could try to have another date. Kylo had always thought he didn’t care enough to ever have a boyfriend, but he did want that with Armitage.

When they heard the sound of the door opening, Armitage sat up, his ears quickly vanishing. Kylo was about to remind him that it was just Rey and she already knew his secret, but he didn’t know that for sure. Rey had already told their parents that they were there and who knew who else. It very well could have been another family member who had come in.

Rey soon walked into the room, but it was a good thing that Armitage had hid his ears because she wasn’t alone. Her friend Finn was with her.

“What’s he doing here?” Kylo asked with a frown. No wonder it had taken her so long to come back with the food. At least she did have two large bags with her and a tray of drinks, so she hadn’t forgotten why she had gone out. She put everything down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“Well, I ordered food thinking I was really hungry and then I realized I definitely couldn’t eat everything I ordered for myself, so I invited Finn to help me eat it all.”

“You mean you had my credit card and went overboard,” Kylo grumbled. Not that it really mattered, but it was just like Rey to do that.

“Yeah,” she said with a grin. “But I also got us all milkshakes. I got two chocolate and two strawberry because I didn’t know what everyone wanted.”

“Gimme a chocolate one,” Kylo said immediately. He could see which one was which so he quickly grabbed one of the chocolate shakes while Rey grabbed the other chocolate one. Kylo took one of the strawberry ones and then realized he should let Armitage have his pick of shake flavors.

“Hey,” he said, holding out both shakes to him. “Which flavor do you want? You can have the chocolate if you want.”

“Um.” Armitage stared at the two shakes and then reached for the strawberry one. “I’ve never had one before so it doesn’t matter.”

“You’ve never had a milkshake before?” Rey asked. 

“Not everyone grew up rich,” Armitage said before Kylo could say anything. 

“You don’t have to be rich to get a milkshake,” Rey said.

“Rey,” Kylo warned, wanting to stop the conversation before it got ugly. He wasn’t surprised that Armitage had never had a milkshake, but he didn’t want Armitage to feel the need to bring up his past.

“I guess he has to be weird if he’s friends with you,” she muttered.

“Yeah, well at least I’m not friends with…” Kylo glanced over to Finn, trying to think of something bad to say about him, but he’d only met him a handful of times and all he knew about him came from Rey. “People.”

“Good job with that one, Kylo,” Rey said.

He hadn’t managed to think of something intelligent to say, but it had at least lightened the mood and they were able to eat without ending up in a fight. Kylo let Armitage try some of his milkshake, and then they ate their burgers and fries. 

It was a nice, quiet way to spend the afternoon and Kylo was even thinking about suggesting playing a few board games. Rey had always enjoyed that and he thought Armitage might too. But that idea was ruined when he heard the sound of the front door opening. He glanced at his phone, looking to see if any of his family had said they were on their way, but they hadn’t mentioned it to him. Probably didn’t want to scare him off, but that meant he had no idea who was coming in.

Without thinking, Kylo reached for Armitage’s hand. He knew he would have to see his family and talk to them, but it hadn’t felt real until now. He thought he was ready, but he really wasn’t. He hadn’t spoken to most of his family in years, and hadn’t seen any of them in person for even longer.

“Hey! Rey! Finn!” 

“We’re in here!” Rey called back.

It took Kylo a moment, but he finally recognized the voice and he relaxed his grip on Armitage’s hand. It wasn’t a family member. Not exactly. When Poe walked into the room, Kylo finally let go of Armitage. The last person he needed getting the wrong idea was Poe Dameron.

“I really didn’t believe it when Rey told me that you were here, Ben,” Poe said.

“Don’t call me that,” Kylo snapped.

“Yeah, sorry,” he said with a grin. That expression used to put Kylo at ease, but now he just wanted to punch him. “Forgot you changed your name when you joined up with that gay biker gang. What is it again?”

“None of your business.”

“Then what am I supposed to call you?”

“His name is Kylo,” Rey said. 

“Yeah, Kylo. Got it.”

“Come on, Armie,” Kylo said. “It’s getting crowded here.”

Kylo left the room and Armitage followed him and they went back to Kylo’s old room. Although Kylo really didn’t want to be there, it was better than being downstairs with Poe. He’d practically grown up with him and although he looked up to him when he was young, he’d hated him by the time he left home. At least he wasn’t truly family and Kylo didn’t have to be nice to him.

“So,” Armitage said once they were safely back in his room. “You were part of a gay biker gang?”

“Guess I might as well tell you,” Kylo said. “Poe’s probably gonna hang around for a while so we’ll be up here for a while.” 

Kylo sat on the bed and Armitage sat next to him, his fox ears and tail visible. Kylo smiled, glad that Armitage could be comfortable around him and Kylo felt like he could tell him anything. He didn’t need to be ashamed of his past - Armitage wouldn’t judge him for it. 

“So I first ran into this gang when I was about fifteen,” Kylo started in on the story, telling it for the first time. He’d never had anyone he could tell it to before, but now, he had Armitage.


	6. Chapter 6

Armitage couldn’t help but cuddle up next to Kylo as he listened to him talk. He’d never felt so comfortable around someone before and now that he’d experienced what it was like to have physical contact with someone, he never wanted it to end. Of course, he couldn’t help but worry that it would, because Kylo was just too good to be true.

He was attractive, had money, and he cared about Armitage. That couldn’t last, he thought. But at least listening to Kylo talk about his past told him that he wasn’t perfect. Armitage had trouble imagining Kylo being part of a biker gang, although he very much enjoyed the mental image of him in leather. 

“I really can’t imagine you in a gang,” Armitage said once Kylo told him all about his past with the Knights of Ren. “You’re too nice for that.”

“You’re the only one who would think that,” Kylo said, laughing. “Everyone else thinks I’m an asshole. And they’re not wrong.”

“You’re not an asshole,” Armitage argued.

“I am, but with you, it’s different. I like you.”

Armitage really couldn’t argue because he didn’t know much about Kylo. Seeing him with his sister was the first time he’d really observed him interacting with someone else and he could tell that Kylo wasn’t as nice to her as he was to him. 

“I still don’t know why you like me,” Armitage muttered. That was the hardest thing for him to understand because no one had liked him before. No one had ever cared about him before.

“Kinda hard to hate a guy that can turn into a fox and tried to steal a chicken,” Kylo said with a grin. “Especially when he’s cute.”

Armitage could feel himself blushing at that. No one had ever called him cute before and although he wanted to argue and say that he wasn’t cute, he couldn’t help but like the thought of Kylo thinking he was cute. No one had ever said anything nice about him before Kylo, and although Armitage wasn’t sure he believed Kylo, he liked hearing it and he couldn’t help but scoot even closer to Kylo.

“So why did you leave the gang?” Armitage asked, bringing their conversation back to the original topic.

“Oh. Well.” Kylo shifted nervously, but he put an arm around Armitage and kept him close. “There was an incident.”

“An incident. I think I need to hear more about this.”

“The old leader of the gang and I had a fight. Um. Look. The Knights of Ren aren’t good people.”

“Yeah, I got that much already.”

“I had a friend of sorts when I was younger. He came and tried to make me leave the gang and go home. The Knights didn’t like this idea. There was a fight. My friend died. So did the old leader.”

“I’m sorry,” Armitage said, not sure what else to say about that.

“Yeah. I guess I’m over it now but I didn’t want to be with them anymore. I sold my bike and everything. Got a job and even started talking to my family again. Kinda got my life together. Not that my family would agree.”

“I’d say you have things together,” Armitage said.

“My family expected a lot from me. And to them, I’m a disappointment. I was supposed to go to college and stuff. Not get a shitty apartment and a dead end job.”

“Then it doesn’t matter what they think,” Armitage said. “I’d love to have a shitty apartment, although for the record, I like your place. It’s comfortable.”

“It’s the rest of my family who would call it shitty. You see what they’re used to. But I have everything I need.”

“I’m sorry,” Armitage said, feeling guilty. “I guess I ruined that all, didn’t I?”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Kylo said, tightening his arms around him. “I didn’t mind my apartment or my job, but I didn’t care about that stuff. I care about you.”

Armitage couldn’t help it - he started to cry. Kylo had made it very clear that he did care, but actually hearing him say those words was just too much. It was all he had ever wanted was for someone to care - even just a little bit - about him. He’d never even had someone pretend to care. All his life, his father had told him that he was worthless and didn’t deserve anything, but Kylo kept showing him that it wasn’t true.

Although he still felt useless most of the time, at least Kylo didn’t make him feel that way. And now he couldn’t help but cling to Kylo and cry against his chest, while Kylo held him, telling him that everything was okay. 

Once Armitage calmed down and the tears stopped flowing, he realized exactly what he had just been doing and he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. He stood up, quickly wiping his eyes. There was nowhere for him to go, however, as he didn’t want to wander around Kylo’s parents’ house on his own.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“It’s okay, Armie. You can cry if you need to. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I know. You wouldn’t.” Armitage turned back to face Kylo and wanted to go right back to his arms. He felt safe there. “But I can’t help but think that my father will come bursting through the door and drag me away every time I show weakness.”

“He doesn’t know where you are. And I wouldn’t let him if he did.”

Armitage couldn’t help but smile at Kylo’s determination, although he didn’t think Kylo could do much against Brendol and all the others, because Armitage knew it wouldn’t be Brendol on his own. He’d bring the entire pack. But Armitage liked the idea that Kylo would fight to protect him.

“It’s irrational, I know,” Armitage said, returning to sit on the bed, but with a little more distance between him and Kylo. “I can’t help but think it, though.”

“If there’s anything I can do -”

“I know,” Armitage said, not needing to listen to him finish that thought. “You’ll do anything you can to help me. You’ve already done more than enough. But…”

Armitage felt nervous asking for anything, but he wanted to touch Kylo. He needed to. Still, asking was too much, so he held out his hand and Kylo took it. As soon as he felt Kylo’s hand wrap around his, Armitage felt better. 

They sat in silence, simply holding hands and Armitage wished they could have stayed like that forever. There, he was safe and nothing could hurt him. 

A series of loud sounds from downstairs ruined the moment. Kylo tightened his grip on his hand and then let go and Armitage could see that he looked worried. He could hear the sounds of voices and as he had better hearing than a human, he could tell that they weren’t coming from any of the people he had already met. It must have been other members of Kylo’s family.

“Guess we’d better go say hi,” Kylo said as he stood up. “Otherwise they’ll just barge in here.”

Armitage didn’t really want to meet anyone else. He wasn’t good at meeting new people and he was depending on these people to let him stay in their house. The only thing that made him feel better was that Rey had said earlier that they were okay with it, but he still expected that after Kylo’s parents met him, they wouldn’t want him around. They’d find some flaw with him and would demand he leave immediately.

“Hey,” Kylo said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay. My family’ll probably love you. They’ve adopted everyone else who they’ve come across that needed a place to stay. And if they don’t, we’ll figure something out.”

That didn’t make Armitage feel much better, but he knew he couldn’t delay the meeting for too long. He just hoped the rest of Kylo’s family would be more like Kylo than Rey. Although she seemed nice enough, she didn’t seem like someone Armitage would really get along with. But Armitage guessed that Kylo was the odd one in the family.

The voices grew louder as they left Kylo’s room and headed down the stairs. Armitage hid his ears and tail as soon as they walked out of the room, but he couldn’t help but run a hand through his hair just to make sure his ears weren’t still visible. 

Once downstairs, Armitage found himself in a much larger group than he had wanted to be part of. Rey was there, as were the two men that had been there earlier. Armitage couldn’t remember their names and wasn’t entirely sure he got their names. There were also two older men and one very tall, very hairy man. And everyone had their attention on Armitage and Kylo.

“I didn’t believe it,” said one of the older men as he stepped towards them. He at least had a smile on his face, so that was probably a good sign. “Rey said you were here, but I had to see it for myself.”

He pulled Kylo into a hug and Armitage stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. At least most of the attention was on Kylo. That didn’t last forever, unfortunately, and when the man let go of Kylo, he soon found everyone’s attention was turning to him.

“Um,” Kylo said, moving slightly so he was standing in front of Armitage a bit. “This is my friend. Armitage. He needs a place to stay.”

“What about you?” asked one of the other men. “Are you staying?”

“As long as Armie does.”

“Well you can both stay as long as you need to,” said the man who had hugged Kylo. He looked Armitage over and grinned. “My name’s Han. I’m Ben’s dad.”

“Ben?” Armitage asked, glancing at Kylo. He’d heard the other man call him that earlier, but he didn’t think it had meant anything. But Armitage was able to figure out that Kylo was not his original name.

“I don’t go by that name,” Kylo growled. “You know that.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Han said. “I forgot. Haven’t seen you in so long and all.”

“Whatever,” Kylo said with a sigh. “Armie, these are my uncles, Luke and Chewie, and you’ve met Rey and Finn and you saw Poe earlier.”

Kylo pointed out the various members of his family as he listed off their names. Just looking at them, Armitage guessed they weren’t all related by blood, but that wasn’t important. He only needed to concentrate on remembering everyone’s names and hopefully making sure everyone liked him enough to let him stay.

“So what’s your story, Red?” Han asked.

“Um.” Armitage glanced at Kylo, not sure what he should say. He couldn’t tell them the whole truth, but he didn’t think it would be a problem to tell them most of the truth. “I have a terrible family.”

“Well, you’re not the first one to join our family for that reason,” Han said. He looked over at Kylo. “Your mother will be home soon. Me and Chewie are going to go pick up something for dinner but we wanted to see you first.”

“Okay.”

“Luke’s going to stay here and make sure you don’t run off. The rest of the family wants to see you too.”

“It’s good to see you again, kid,” Han said. Chewie walked over to Kylo, said something in a language Armitage didn’t recognize and gave Kylo a quick hug before he left with Han.

“I still can’t believe you have friends,” Poe said. “So. Armitage? Did I get your name right?”

“Yes,” he replied, not sure about the other man. He wasn’t very nice to Kylo, which already made Armitage not like him. 

“Welcome to the family, Armitage,” Poe said, a grin on his face.

“This is just temporary,” he said. “Just until I figure out what to do.”

“Yeah, that’s what everyone thinks at first. I started coming over here when my dad was on work trips and now I’m part of the family. You stay here one night and you’re one of us.”

“Oh.” That did not sound so great to Armitage. It was very much like how his pack operated. They took in whoever was desperate enough to need somewhere to stay and then they owned them. He didn’t want to end up in the same situation he had just escaped from.

“Hey, it’s not that bad having a family,” Poe said, putting a hand on Armitage’s shoulder. He couldn’t help but flinch at the touch. Poe pulled his hand back. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Armitage said. “I’m not used to that.”

“Just let me know if I’m making you uncomfortable,” Poe said. “I know I really like to touch everyone, but I’ll make sure I don’t with you.”

“Or you can just not talk to either one of us,” Kylo said. “Why is he even here?”

“He’s part of the family,” Luke said. “More so than you have been lately.”

“Yeah, and whose fault is that?”

“Let’s not have that conversation. I’d rather not fight with you. How about you tell me how you’ve been? Rey says you have a job?”

“Hey,” Poe said to Armitage. “While they’re catching up, why don’t we talk a bit? Got to get to know our new family member.”

“Um.” Armitage really wanted to stay with Kylo, but he also didn’t want to keep him from talking to his family. He didn’t want Kylo to end up resenting him. “Okay,” he agreed with a nod.

Poe walked over to a couch and sat down, and Rey and Finn joined him. Armitage sat nearby on a chair, that he thought must have been the nicest chair he’d ever sat on. It was very soft and he felt like he might be able to melt into all the pillows. 

Fortunately for Armitage, Poe did most of the talking and only asked him a few questions about himself. After asking about how long he’d known Kylo, Poe went off talking about what Kylo was like when he was younger. Every now and then, Rey would add something in as well. Although they seemed to be a little critical of Kylo, it was nice to hear more about him.

Every now and then, Armitage looked over to Kylo who was still standing with his uncle. He didn’t look happy and Armitage wanted to go over and make sure he was okay, but he also didn’t want to intrude on a private conversation, no matter how upset Kylo seemed.

“Hey,” Rey said, getting Armitage’s attention while he was busy looking at Kylo. “Looks like mom’s home.”

Rey was looking out the window and she quickly left. Armitage didn’t know why she seemed so excited. Surely her mother coming home was a regular occurence, but he really didn’t know much about the family. Maybe it had been a while.

“You might want to stay back,” Poe warned Armitage. “Kylo hasn’t seen his mom in years. We’re not sure if they’re going to fight or if he’s just going to break down and cry.”

“I can’t believe he’s still here,” Finn said.

“I really thought he was going to run off,” Poe agreed.

“Are things really that bad between them?” Armitage asked. If they were going to be fighting, he really didn’t want to stay. He’d had more than his share of family fights.

“It’s complicated,” Poe said.

Armitage didn’t have time to ask any more questions to try to figure out the situation as he heard a door opening and closing and soon Rey was running back inside. She ran up to Kylo and grabbed him by the wrist.

“He’s still here!” she called out. “And I got him so he can’t run away!”

Soon an older woman walked in and Armitage assumed that she was Kylo’s mother although she was much shorter than he would have expected. But that wasn’t the most surprising thing about her. It took Armitage a moment, but he realized he knew her. Kylo’s mother - and he was certain she was his mother because she was hugging him - was the governor of the state. And according to Brendol, she was a friend of his.


	7. Chapter 7

Kylo hadn’t seen his mother in years and he wasn’t sure what to expect. He almost thought she might pick up right where she had left off and lecture him. That was pretty much what Luke had decided to do, although he wasn’t as harsh as Kylo remembered. Still, he didn’t think his mother would have anything nice to say, but the first thing Leia did when she saw him was hug him.

Kylo couldn’t help but return the hug. He’d really missed her and he regretted that he’d stayed away for so long. Now that he was back with Leia, all of their fights in the past seemed so pointless and far away and Kylo couldn’t believe he let that keep him from coming home. By the time Leia pulled away, there were tears in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away, not needing everyone to see him crying.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Leia said with a smile. “I do hope you’ll stay for a while. And who’s your friend?”

“Oh. Right.” Kylo had been so overwhelmed seeing his mother again he’d nearly forgotten about Armitage, who at some point had come to stand next to him. “Mom, this is Armitage. Armitage, this is Leia.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Armitage,” Leia said, holding her hand out to Armitage. He shook her hand, but he didn’t look very happy. He still seemed nervous about meeting everyone, and Kylo really couldn’t blame him. Kylo was nervous too and he already knew everyone.

“Thank you for letting me stay,” Armitage said.

“Of course,” Leia said. “We’re always more than happy to have B- Kylo’s friends here. And you are free to stay as long as you like.”

“Thank you,” Armitage said.

“No, thank you. I’m sure it’s only because of you that Kylo’s come home at all. Rey said you were having family trouble. Is there anything we can do to help?”

“No,” Armitage said quickly. “I just need a place to hide for a little bit and once I figure out where to go, I’ll be out of your way.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“Got pizza!” Han’s voice called and everyone started to head for the kitchen. Kylo went to follow, but Armitage grabbed him by the arm.

“Kylo,” he whispered. “We can’t stay. Your mother is friends with my father.”

“What?” Kylo shook his head. “That can’t be. Did she recognize you?”

“I’ve never met her, but my father mentioned the governor often enough. They talk. What happens if she happens to mention me next time she sees him?”

“They can’t be friends,” Kylo insisted. “She would never be friends with someone like that.”

“I’m not lying!”

“I know. I know you’re not. She might know him, but they aren’t friends. And if they are, they wouldn’t be if she knew even half of what he’s done to you.” Kylo put a hand on Armitage’s shoulder, hoping it might help him relax. But he still seemed uneasy. “We can leave if you want. But she clearly isn’t calling your father now, so we might as well eat dinner, okay?”

“Okay,” Armitage agreed. 

“It’ll be okay. I promise.” Kylo was certain that Leia would never be friends with the likes of Armitage’s father, and he hoped that he would stay long enough to see that. As much as he hadn’t gotten along with his family in the past, Kylo knew they would never tolerate someone as cruel as Armitage’s father.

Kylo really hoped that they’d be able to go into the kitchen, eat some pizza and leave without having to talk to anyone else, but that really was too much to hope for. He should have known they would at least pretend to be interested in him since he’d been away for so long. 

“Come sit down,” Leia said when Kylo went to go stand in the corner. As much as he would have liked to eat quickly and then disappear into his room again, he did want to talk to Leia too. He sat down and Armitage took the seat next to him.

“Rey’s kept me updated about everything you’ve told her,” Leia said. “But I didn’t know that you had any close friends. Do you work together?”

“No,” Kylo said.

“Well, how did you meet Armitage? Dating app?”

“We’re not dating,” Kylo grumbled. He really should have gone to his room. 

“Come on, Kylo,” Rey said. She was sitting on the kitchen counter instead of sitting at the table. “Tell everyone how you guys met.”

Kylo glared at Rey - she knew the truth but he couldn’t tell the rest of his family. But he couldn’t think of a way they possibly could have met, so Kylo went with a version of the truth. “I gave him a ride,” he said.

“A ride?” Luke asked. “You’re doing ridesharing now?”

“No. He was just walking on the side of the road and it was raining. Thought he might like a ride.”

“I’d tell you it’s not a great idea to pick up random strangers on the side of the road, but I suppose that is pretty much how I met your father,” Leia said. “I’m glad you have friends, though. I always worry about you.”

Instead of responding, Kylo shoved pizza in his mouth. He really didn’t want to listen to Leia talk about how much she missed him and how much she worried. Kylo felt bad enough as it was and he didn’t need to hear about it too.

“So,” Han said. “You just picked him up and then became best friends?”

“Pretty much,” Kylo said. He glanced over to Armitage, not sure how much he should really say. Everyone already knew that Armitage was hiding from his family so it probably wouldn’t be a problem to mention that, but Kylo decided not to give out any extra information.

“Why were you walking in the rain?” Han asked. “Car break down? If you have car trouble, I can help you out.”

“I don’t have a car,” Armitage said. “I was… just walking. Didn’t have anywhere to go.”

“You poor thing,” Leia said. “Well, you are always welcome here.”

“Thanks,” Armitage muttered. 

Kylo could tell Armitage was uncomfortable and Kylo was as well. As much as he liked seeing his mother - and the rest of his family - it really was too much to deal with at the moment. And he really needed to get Armitage alone so they could discuss what they were going to do.

Once they had finished eating, Kylo told his family that they were tired and needed to rest. Everyone seemed a little nervous about that, but Leia stood up and hugged him. Kylo really hoped that he’d be able to stay, but he knew he’d leave if Armitage wanted to.

“Don’t run off,” Rey called as Kylo and Armitage started to leave.

“What?” Kylo asked, turning to look at her.

“Just seems like something you’d do,” she said. “Run off in the middle of the night and not say anything. So don’t.”

“Okay.” Kylo thought it best to just agree to whatever Rey wanted. She’d be beyond angry if he broke that promise, but if Armitage wanted to leave, Kylo would deal with an angry sister. Glancing at Armitage, Kylo suspected he might have to deal with it, but it would all be worth it if Armitage was happy.

They made it back to Kylo’s room and Armitage immediately picked up the box that he had been carried in. “We need to leave,” he said.

“Armie,” Kylo grabbed the box but didn’t pull it away from him. “Are you sure?”

“I can’t stay. She’ll tell him I’m here and I don’t know what he’ll do if he finds me. I need to leave immediately. I shouldn’t have stayed for dinner. He could be on his way already.”

“Breathe,” Kylo said, moving his hands from the box to Armitage’s shoulders. Almost as soon as he did, Armitage dropped the box and leaned up against Kylo’s chest, and Kylo wrapped his arms around him. “You’ll be okay.”

For several moments, Kylo held him, letting Armitage calm down. He didn’t loosen his grip until he could feel that Armitage was no longer trembling. Even then, Kylo kept his arms around him, but he pulled away enough that he could look at him.

“Does my mother really seem the type to be friends with someone like your father? I know you just met her and I haven’t seen her in years, but she would never help someone like your father.”

“They’re friends,” Armitage said. “Of course she’s going to tell him and it’s not like I have a common name. She must know who I am. If you don’t want to come with me, that’s fine, but I can’t stay here.”

Kylo picked up the box that had some of Armitage’s extra clothes. He didn’t have very much and Kylo knew he would never forgive himself if he let Armitage take that box and disappear. Kylo planned on disappearing with him. At least it wouldn’t be the first time that he simply disappeared, so his family probably wouldn't be that upset.

“Okay,” he said. “We can go. But you know. A lot of people like to think they’re friends with my mom but she can’t stand most of those people. And let me guess. Your father was the one who claimed they were friends.”

“That’s right,” Armitage said. “And if it’s true, I can’t be here and I can’t take any chances.”

“Let’s go then.” Kylo didn’t know how to convince him that he was safe, but there was no point trying. He was scared and the only thing that was going to help was getting away. He walked out of the room, and Armitage followed.

Kylo knew his family would be disappointed that he left, but they wouldn’t be surprised. He’d explain everything to them eventually, but keeping Armitage safe was more important at the moment. It would have been ideal if they could have quietly left the house, but of course, it couldn’t be that easy.

“Going somewhere?”

Kyo was close to the front door - he could have made a dash for it and escaped, but instead, he found himself turning around to face Luke. He started to make up an excuse, but he couldn’t think of anything to say, so instead, he just shrugged.

“Would it really be so hard to say goodbye to your parents? Maybe tell them why you’re leaving all of a sudden?”

“We’re sorta in a hurry,” Kylo said. He glanced over at Armitage. At least he was still with him and hadn’t taken off on his own. “I’ll explain later.”

“Kylo!”

Hearing Rey shout his name, Kylo knew it was too late to run. She could probably outrun him and Kylo knew she wouldn’t hesitate to chase him down. And he still didn’t have a good excuse about why they were leaving.

“You said you wouldn’t run off! Where are you going?”

“Something came up,” he said, knowing it wasn’t a good enough reason but he had nothing else.

“What’s so important that you couldn’t even tell us you were leaving? Why’d you even come here if you were just going to leave?”

“Kylo,” Armitage said softly. “I need to get out of here.”

“Yeah,” Kylo agreed. “Let’s go.” 

He turned to leave, but Rey grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. That’s when Kylo realized they had attracted a lot of attention. Probably because Rey was yelling. Finn, Poe, Leia and Han were now also in the room.

“Kylo,” Leia said as she walked over to him. She sounded so sad and Kylo felt terrible that he wasn’t even going to say goodbye. “I thought you were planning to stay for a while.”

“Kylo, please,” Armitage said, grabbing him by the hand. 

“What’s wrong?” Leia asked.

“Nothing,” Kylo said, but his reply was drowned out by Armitage, who started shouting at Leia.

“I know you’re friends with my father! You’ve probably already called him and now you’re trying to keep me here long enough for him to get here!”

It seemed like Armitage had more to say, but Kylo saw something was wrong and he put his body in between Armitage and his family, hoping that maybe they hadn’t noticed. But one glance over his shoulder and Kylo knew that everyone had seen Armitage’s fox ears.

“What are you doing?” Armitage asked, trying to shove Kylo away, but he didn’t budge.

“Your ears. Armie, they’re showing.”

“Fuck!” He put his hand on top of his head, and then the ears vanished. 

“Armitage,” Leia said. “Why don't we have a talk? I promise you that I don’t know who your father is and even if I did, I wouldn’t be trying to send you back to him.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“Of course not,” Leia said. She gently pushed Kylo out of the way and then handed Armitage her phone. “Look through it. You can look and see that I haven’t contacted your father.”

Armitage took her phone and he looked at it for a while before handing it back to her. “You used someone else’s phone, then.”

“Whose phone would you like to check? You can look at everyone’s phone if it’ll make you feel safe, and we do want you to feel safe here.”

Soon, Armitage was being handed phone after phone and he looked through them all. Kylo thought he was starting to relax, but he couldn't be sure. The fact that he hadn’t ran out the door was a good sign, though.

“Is there anything else you’d like to check?” Leia asked after Armitage handed back the last phone.

“No,” he said, glancing over to Kylo. “I guess you didn’t call him.”

“Come on, Armitage,” Leia said. “Let’s talk about what’s going on and we’ll see if there’s something we can do to help. And don’t worry about your secret. You’re not the first shapeshifter to join our family.”

“I’m not?”

“He’s not?” Kylo asked at the same time. He had no idea who else in the family might be a shapeshifter. Perhaps someone who had been around when he was very young? Or maybe there was someone more recent, after he had left.

“Sit down and I’ll explain anything you want to know.” Leia walked from them, heading towards the living room.

“We can still leave if you want,” Kylo offered.

Armitage hesitated, then shook his head. He glanced at the others and then followed Leia, and Kylo was right behind him. This was not how he expected things to go with his family, but he couldn’t say he was all that surprised. There was always something when it came to their family.


	8. Chapter 8

Armitage still wasn’t sure about Kylo’s family. Although he had seen that no one had contacted Brendol, part of his brain was still screaming at him that he needed to run, that it was all a trap and Leia was simply trying to delay him. But Kylo trusted them and Armitage trusted Kylo. Maybe he was right and Brendol wasn’t really friends with Leia. 

The biggest reason he didn’t simply leave was because he wanted to stay with them in the nice house with what seemed like such a happy family. He wanted to be part of that. Maybe he could, if he hadn’t already ruined his chances by yelling at Leia.

Armitage froze once he got into the living room, not quite sure where he should sit, but Kylo took his hand and guided him over to a couch and then sat down next to him. Although there really wasn’t that much room left on the couch, Rey crowded in on Kylo’s other side. Armitage couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like to grow up in a family like that, where being close to each other physically was normal. The only time he had physical contact with anyone was if someone was hitting him.

That thought brought tears to his eyes and he really just wanted to lean up against Kylo and be held. At least Kylo was sitting close enough to him that he could feel the warmth coming from his body, and that alone was comforting. That would have to be enough until after he had finished talking with Leia.

“Armitage,” Leia said, getting his attention. She was sitting on another couch, but it was close enough that she didn’t need to speak loudly. “Now that I see you’re a shapeshifter, I believe I do know your father, but I can assure you, we are not friends. Is Brendol Hux your father?”

Armitage opened his mouth, ready to deny it. If he could convince her that they were not related, then she wouldn’t try to contact him. But she seemed to have figured it out and Armitage suspected that Leia would know if he lied. He also wanted to trust her.

“He is.”

“I can’t believe that son of a bitch claims we’re friends,” Leia said angrily and Armitage couldn’t help but flinch. Kylo put a hand on his knee, and Armitage relaxed, comforted by the reminder that Kylo was there. “If you have any interest in pressing charges against that man, I promise you I will do everything in my power to make sure he goes to prison.”

“I… no.” Armitage shook his head. “I just don’t ever want him to find me.”

“That’s fine. You are welcome to stay here as long as you like.”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“Of course not. Why would I be mad?”

“I yelled at you. Accused you of working with my father.”

“That’s nothing,” Leia said with a smile. “It pales in comparison to all the things Kylo used to do. And I don’t think there’s anyone here who hasn’t gotten into a screaming match with someone else here.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” Leia reached forward, putting her hand on top of his. Armitage was shocked, but he managed not to pull away. “I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through. Of course you’re scared and if you need to yell, that’s perfectly all right.”

Armitage couldn’t believe Leia was so calm about it. Had he yelled at Brendol like that, he doubted he’d still be conscious. How could someone who didn’t even know him be so kind? He looked over at Kylo and wondered if that’s where he’d got it from. Kylo had done the same - he’d taken him in and been nice to him for no reason. Maybe the entire family was that way. If that were the case, then maybe he would finally be safe.

“I’m sure you want to know how I know your father,” Leia said. “We’ve worked together in the past. As you may know, sometimes shapeshifters need political favors. I wasn’t about to give in to any of his demands, but then Chewbacca recognized what he was. Since then, we’ve had to deal with each other, although I try to do so as infrequently as possible. I know he mentioned having a son, but I had no idea how he treated you.”

“Not like anyone cares anyway,” Armitage muttered.

“I do,” Leia said and Armitage wanted to believe her. “He never should have hurt you and had I known what he was doing, I’m not sure I would have been able to stop myself from killing him.”

“It’s not too late to do that,” Kylo said.

“As much as I’d like to, Armitage is safe now and we don’t need to start a fight with the largest group of shapeshifters in the country. But like I said, I will make sure he goes to prison if Armitage ever wants to press charges. Now, Armitage, is there anything else you would like to know?”

Armitage started to ask a question, but he wasn’t sure what to ask. He had so many questions but he didn’t know where to start. And there was nothing Leia could tell him that would reassure him that she wasn’t going to call Brendol. Armitage would just have to trust her.

“I’m really tired,” he mumbled.

“Of course. Do you want a room to yourself or were you going to stay with Kylo?”

“Um. I can share.” Armitage glanced over to Kylo. “If that’s all right.”

“Yeah,” Kylo agreed quickly. “You want me to bring in a couch or something?”

“No,” Armitage said, shaking his head. “That’s really not necessary. I can make myself comfortable anywhere.”

“Let’s go,” Kylo said, standing up. Armitage stood up with him.

“Hey.” Rey stood up as well, standing in Kylo’s way. “You sure you’re not going to try running off?”

“I will if Armie wants to.”

“You’re the worst.” Rey looked at Armitage and frowned. “You’d better not make him run off again.”

“Get out of the way,” Kylo said, pushing her. That didn’t do much to move her and Rey shoved Kylo right back. 

“Stop it!” Leia ordered. “Rey, let him go, and Kylo, don’t shove your sister.”

Kylo grumbled something Armitage couldn’t understand, but Rey moved out of the way and Kylo took Armitage’s hand and started to lead him from the room. They had just about made it out of the room when Kylo stopped and turned to face Leia.

“Mom? Who’s the other shapeshifter?”

Armitage was curious about that as well. He’d never met anyone not associated with Brendol’s pack. He knew there had to be others, but he always imagined that they were the same as Brendol and his friends. Now that he had met Leia, he imagined anyone that was part of her family would be very different.

“I’m sure you can figure it out if you think about it,” Leia said. “Go take care of Armitage and if you haven’t figured it out by the morning, I’ll tell you then.”

Kylo hesitated and Armitage dreaded that he might try to get the information immediately. As much as Armitage would have liked to know, he really had enough of being around so many people. Fortunately, Kylo left without saying another word, taking Armitage with him. As soon as they were safely in Kylo’s room and the door was shut, Armitage dropped to the floor.

“Armie?” Kylo knelt down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “What’s wrong? Do we need to leave?”

Armitage shook his head, finding himself unable to speak. He wanted to stay. He so very badly wanted to belong with Kylo’s family. There was just so much that had happened in the past twenty-four hours that Armitage just wanted to curl up and sleep for a week. He knew he couldn’t do that but he could at least lean up against Kylo. As soon as he did, Kylo put his arms around him, and Armitage felt as safe as he possibly could.

He still didn’t know if he could really trust Leia or anyone else, but he could trust Kylo. If the worst happened, Armitage knew that Kylo would do everything in his power to protect him. He felt Kylo shifting around and Armitage moved with him so he would be more comfortable. Kylo didn’t let go of him as he moved around, which Armitage appreciated. He would have liked to stay in Kylo’s arms forever.

After a while, Armitage started to pull away. He could feel that he was about to fall asleep and as comfortable as he was, he didn’t want to make things awkward for Kylo. Armitage wasn’t quite sure what their relationship was - he felt like they were more than friends, but Kylo had also insisted that they weren’t dating. Not that Armitage could blame him - why would anyone want to date him?

“You okay?” Kylo asked. He loosened his arms but still held on to him. 

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s just been a long day. I want to go to bed.”

“Sure. Um. I can go sleep downstairs or something if you want the room to yourself.”

“I’d rather not stay here alone,” Armitage admitted. He hated the idea of spending the night all by himself in a new house filled with people he still wasn’t sure he could trust, no matter how much he wanted to. But if Kylo was there, he knew he’d be okay.

“Oh. Sure. That’s not a problem. I can sleep on the floor.”

“What? No.” Armitage shook his head. He’d never make Kylo do that, especially since it was entirely unnecessary. “I was going to sleep in my fox form. I can sleep comfortably anywhere like that.”

“Yeah but I can’t let you sleep on the floor. I guess we could share the bed. It’s not like you take up much room as a fox.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?” Armitage asked. “I don’t want to be in the way.”

“You’re never in the way.” Kylo gave him a quick hug before letting go of him and standing up. He looked around the room before turning his attention back to Armitage. “You’re lucky. You can turn into a fox to sleep. I didn’t bring a change of clothes. You okay if I at least sleep with my pants off?”

“That’s fine,” Armitage said. He really didn’t mind what Kylo did - Armitage would be comfortable with him no matter what. As Kylo started to take his pants off, Armitage began shifting. As he did so, he realized that his ears and tail were already showing. He really was becoming comfortable with Kylo if he had done that without realizing it.

He felt fur growing in all over his body while he grew smaller and smaller. He could always feel the changes in his body and it was always uncomfortable - after all, his bones were shrinking and elongating - but it wasn’t painful. Armitage had always liked his fox form - he was smaller which meant it was easier to hide.

Once he had finished shifting, he looked at Kylo, who was already in bed. Armitage glanced around and saw there were plenty of places he could sleep comfortably - he really didn’t want to be in Kylo’s way. He didn’t think Kylo would stop him if he decided to sleep under the bed or in a corner of the room. But the idea of sleeping alone seemed like the worst thing. Armitage wanted to curl up next to Kylo. He’d feel so much safer there.

Armitage walked over to the bed and put his front paws up, looking at Kylo, waiting for him to tell him that he changed his mind and that he would have to find another place to sleep. But Kylo turned to look at him, smiling.

“Come on,” Kylo invited and Hux didn’t think twice, jumping up to join him. Kylo ran a hand down his back. Armitage pushed back against the contact. Being pet really was the best.

Armitage thought it would be nice to cuddle up as close to Kylo as possible and he even wondered what it would be like to sleep on Kylo’s broad chest. That would be too much to ask. Armitage instead laid down on the edge of the bed, trying to take up as little room as possible. Kylo continued to pet him and soon, Armitage was asleep.

***

For the second morning in the row, Armitage woke up next to Kylo. Unlike last time, he wasn’t feeling nearly as worried. He still didn’t know if he could trust Leia, but he hadn’t been pulled away from Kylo in the middle of the night, which seemed like a good sign.

He lifted his head from Kylo’s arm, trying to listen to the sounds of the house. Everything seemed quiet, leaving Armitage to consider where he’d been sleeping. His head had been on Kylo’s arm, but he knew he hadn’t fallen asleep there. In fact, he’d moved a lot closer to Kylo overnight. He quickly got up and moved away from Kylo, embarrassed by how needy he would seem.

The sudden movement seemed to wake Kylo and as he started to move, Armitage laid back down, away from him. He could pretend he’d been there all night.

“Hey Armie,” Kylo said, reaching out to pet him. “You want to stay like that? I can turn around if you want to shift.”

Armitage would have liked to stay right where he was and let Kylo pet him all day, but he knew he’d need to get up eventually, and at least in his human form, he could talk to Kylo. He nodded and after one last pet, Kylo rolled over and Armitage jumped down from the bed. Before he started to shift, he glanced back at Kylo and saw that he still had his back turned.

As he regained his human shape, Armitage did his best to dress at the same time, although it was difficult when his paws were slow to grow into fingers. Once he was human - or mostly so, as he didn’t hide his ears or tail - he sat back down on the bed and Kylo finally turned to look at him. 

“You okay?” Kylo asked, sitting up. 

Armitage nodded. He really wasn’t even sure what being okay meant. But as long as he was away from his father, he thought that would be good enough. The only thing he was not certain of was Kylo’s family.

“We still can leave if you’ll feel safer,” Kylo said.

“I think I’m okay,” Armitage said. He had no idea what it would take for him to trust everyone, but he wanted to and that was enough. 

“If you change your mind, just say the word.” Kylo put an arm around him and Armitage leaned into him. All he needed was to be near Kylo and he would be just fine.

“So if we sneak downstairs now,” Kylo said as he stood up, “we might be able to get some breakfast and get back up here before anyone notices us.”

Armitage tried not to stare at Kylo’s bare legs, but he found he couldn’t help himself. His legs were thick and muscular, so much larger than Armitage’s. He followed Kylo’s legs and took note of his ass, which seemed just as muscular as the rest of him. Kylo bent down and Armitage wanted to reach out and touch his ass so he could feel for himself.

“Armie?” Kylo turned around and Armitage realized he’d been staring at Kylo’s ass. He looked away, embarrassed.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, watching Kylo put his pants on from the corner of his eye.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for. So did you wanna go downstairs with me or should I just bring something up for you?”

“I’ll go with you,” Armitage said quickly. He didn’t want to be alone, even for a short while.

Kylo reached out and took his hand and together, they made their way to the kitchen. Just as Kylo predicted, they were alone, and Armitage hoped it would stay that way. It had only been one day, but he already missed the days when it was just him and Kylo and no one else.

“Anything in particular you want for breakfast?”

“Not really.”

“All right.” Kylo opened the refrigerator and looked around for a few moments before closing the door and dropping something wrapped in foil on the counter. “Nothing like leftover pizza for breakfast!”

“If you say so.” Armitage had never had pizza for breakfast before, but it was rare that he had pizza anyway. Kylo unwrapped the pizza and handed a slice to Armitage. They ate quickly, and managed to return to Kylo’s room without running into anyone else.

“Okay,” Kylo said once they were safely back in the room. “We’ve got a lot to figure out. Do you feel safe here because I got to go to work tomorrow. I can call in if you want. I don’t want you to stay here by yourself if you’re not comfortable.”

“I’ll be fine,” Armitage lied. He would have loved for Kylo to stay with him, but Kylo had already done too much for him. He couldn’t ask for him to stay home from work too. Armitage didn’t know what he would do alone in the house, but he’d manage. Somehow.

“All right. Just tell me if you change your mind.” Kylo sat down on a chair that was sitting in front of a desk and immediately leaned back in it. Feeling awkward just standing there, Armitage sat on the bed.

“So now we gotta figure out what to do for the rest of the day. I kinda like the idea of hiding out here, but I know Rey won’t let me do that. So unless you want to go somewhere, we’ll probably have to deal with them. But just so you know, they like you and if they’re too much, just say so and they’ll let us retreat back here. Or they’ll let you go at least.”

“Okay,” Armitage said, nodding. 

“Hey, if you don’t want to talk to anyone today, they’ll understand. You can stay in here if you want.”

“No,” Armitage said, taking a deep breath. He could hang out with Kylo’s family. They were so much better than his own. There was nothing to worry about. “It’s just… a lot to deal with. I’m not used to people that are that friendly.”

“Armie,” Kylo said, voice soft. He got up and joined him on the bed, pulling him into a hug, then almost immediately let go of him. “Sorry. I don’t know if that’s too much but every time I think about what you’ve been through, I just want to hug you.”

“It's fine,'' Armitage said. He reached out to Kylo, putting a hand on his arm. “I like it when you do that.”

“Good,” Kylo said, grinning. “Just let me know if you need me to back off.”

Kylo pulled Armitage into a hug once again and Armitage leaned into Kylo. They stayed like that for a while, neither of them speaking. Armitage was more than happy to let Kylo hold him for as long as he wanted, because he knew he was safe as long as Kylo’s arms were around him.

It couldn’t last, of course. After a while, there was a loud pounding on the door, followed by shouting.

“You better be in there Kylo!” Rey yelled from the other side of the door.

“Go away!” Kylo called back.

“Make me!”

Kylo didn’t answer back, but he did pull away from Armitage. Although he knew Kylo would have to move eventually, Armitage was still disappointed when he did. “Guess I’d better go talk to my family,” Kylo said. “You want to come?”

Armitage noidded. As unsure as he was about everyone, at least he’d have Kylo with him. He told himself that Kylo’s family was full of nice people and he had nothing to worry about, but when he stood up and headed towards the door, he couldn’t help but feel nervous.

“Remember you can leave anytime,” Kylo reminded him just before he opened the door. Hux followed him out, ready to face whatever was in store.


	9. Chapter 9

Everything was going to be just fine.

Kylo had been telling himself that all day. He could tell Armitage was nervous about him leaving, but when Kylo suggested he call in, Armitage insisted that he go to work. He didn’t want to crowd Armitage and he needed to stop by his apartment anyway, so he’d left. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Armitage alone with his family.

Things had been relatively good on Sunday. They spent time with the family, and Kylo thought Armitage was starting to get along with some of them although he seemed to butt heads with Poe quite a bit. Kylo was fairly certain that Poe had just been trying to rile Armitage up, but it took more self control than Kylo knew he had not to punch him. He didn’t want anyone to give Armitage a hard time.

Because he knew Armitage still wasn’t completely comfortable with everyone, Kylo decided he was going to go home early. He worked through his lunch break and shortly after everyone else was coming back to work, Kylo took off. He’d gotten as much done as he could for the day, and there was no reason for him to stick around. Normally, he’d go through his tasks much slower and screw around to stretch things out to fill the day, but it was more important that he get back to Armitage.

Being one of the best workers there had its benefits - Kylo knew that his boss probably wouldn’t even be that upset. He might yell at him because Snoke did like to chew people out, but Kylo knew he wasn’t going to get fired. Even if Kylo took a half day every single day, he’d still be better than most of the other employees there.

Kylo ran out of the building, not bothering to explain to anyone where he was going. They’d figure it out eventually. Once he was in his car, Kylo wanted to drive back to his parents’ house as fast as possible, but he knew he had to be careful. He was fairly certain that Armitage’s father had someone watching his apartment still and although he didn’t think he’d been followed to work, he knew he had to be cautious.

He took a roundabout way home and kept track of the other cars on the road. No one seemed to follow him and by the time he’d turned into his parent’s neighborhood, there were no other cars behind him. By the time he pulled into the driveway, his only concern was seeing Armitage. 

Kylo ran into the house and wasn’t surprised to see that it was empty. Rey would be at school and everyone else was probably at work. But where was Armitage? Kylo looked around downstairs quickly then ran up to his room. Armitage wasn’t there either and Kylo started to worry.

“Armie!” Kylo called. He fumbled for his phone, wanting to call Leia and ask if she knew where he was, but his hands were shaking so much that he dropped his phone. When he bent down to pick it up, he saw he didn’t need to worry, at least not about Armitage’s whereabouts.

A fox’s head poked out from underneath his bed and Kylo was relieved to see that Armitage was still there, but a new worry came up - had he just been hiding out all day under there? Had Kylo stayed all day at work, would Armitage have remained hiding?

“Are you okay?” Armitage came out from under the bed and nodded. At least he wasn’t hurt. “Did you want to stay like that? Or I can leave if you want to shift.”

All of a sudden, Armitage started to get larger. Kylo stared for a moment before he realized that Armitage was shifting right in front of him. He turned around before Armitage got much further along in the process, not wanting to embarrass him. He was tempted to peek, and part of him thought Armitage wouldn’t mind. After all, he’d started shifting right in front of him but Kylo didn’t want to risk making him uncomfortable. 

“You could have asked me to leave,” Kylo said. “Or not ask, I guess. But I don’t know. Maybe headbutt me or something if you’re a fox and want me to leave so you can shift.”

“It’s fine,” Armitage said. “I’m dressed now.”

Kylo turned around and saw that Armitage was wearing the same clothes he had worn the day before, which reminded him that he had packed up more of their things from the apartment that morning. He’d been so excited to see Armitage he had almost forgotten. 

“Were you under there all day?” Kylo asked. Armitage looked away, and that was all the confirmation that Kylo needed. “I can call in tomorrow.”

“No, Kylo. Please don’t.” Armitage stepped closer to him and Kylo couldn’t help but put an arm around him. “You do too much already.”

“I don’t want you to spend an entire day under a bed,” Kylo said. “You deserve better than that.”

“I’ll get over it. I think. I just got scared and I feel better as a fox. I think I just need more time to get used to this situation.”

“If you ever want me to stay, just say the word,” Kylo said, pulling him into a tight hug. He hated to think that he was lying in fear all day, but he also knew there wasn’t much he could do about that.

Kylo held him for a little while, but he needed to get their things out of the car, so he reluctantly let go. Not wanting to part entirely, Kylo held onto Armitage’s hand. When Armitage didn’t pull away, Kylo lightly pulled, and Armitage went along with him.

“I have some of our stuff in the car,” Kylo said. “Thought you might like the rest of your clothes and I definitely needed something else to wear.”

When they made it to the front door, Armitage stopped. Kylo relaxed his grip on his hand and Armitage pulled his hand away. Armitage was looking at the ground and starting to move backwards.

“I think I’d rather stay in here,” he said. “In case someone followed you and they’re watching. If they don’t see me, maybe they’ll go away.”

Kylo was about to assure him that no one followed him and that he was careful, but he knew how afraid Armitage was, and Kylo would rather Armitage feel safe. He nodded and went out to the car by himself. There really wasn’t that much stuff to begin with and soon, everything was inside and Armitage helped him carry it to his room.

“You know, no one else is home right now,” Kylo said. “Rey won’t be home from school for probably another hour. If you wanted to go watch TV or just walk around downstairs.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice.”

As soon as they were downstairs, Kylo realized that Armitage probably hadn’t eaten since breakfast so he went to the kitchen and found a box of mac and cheese. He really wasn’t the best cook, but a box of pasta and powdered cheese mix were easy enough. And Armitage seemed willing to eat just about anything.

Kylo also found some candy, so he gave that to Armitage while they waited for the pasta to cook. Armitage really did have a sweet tooth, and Kylo enjoyed watching him devour the candy. Rey would not be pleased that her candy was gone, but Kylo would risk her wrath any day to see Armitage happy.

“You know what?” Kylo said as he dished the mac and cheese out. “My mom never did tell me who the other shapeshifter in the family is.”

“You didn’t figure it out?” Armitage asked.

“No,” Kylo said, sitting down at the table. He glanced at Armitage who was already digging into his food. “Did you?”

“Yeah,” Armitage said with a mouthful of food. “I think so anyway.”

“Who is it?”

“You seriously didn’t figure it out?”

Kylo didn’t answer, shoving a spoonful of mac and cheese in his mouth instead. He couldn’t believe Armitage had figured it out, and he’d only known his family for two days. “Are you going to tell me?”

“It’s your uncle.” That wasn’t a very good answer as Kylo had several uncles, and besides Luke, any of them might have been a shapeshifter. But Armitage had only met one.

“Chewie?” Kylo guessed and Armitage nodded. That made sense, but Kylo still wasn’t sure how Armitage could have figured it out so quickly, especially since Chewie had hardly been around. “How do you know?”

“It’s just a guess,” Armitage said with a shrug. “But you know how he’s really hairy? I think that’s kinda like how I like my ears and tail visible.”

Armitage’s reasoning made as much sense as anything else, but Kylo still couldn’t believe that he hadn’t known. He’d known Chewie his entire life and never told him. His parents obviously knew and they hadn’t said anything either. Kylo couldn’t help but wonder why they had kept it from him.

“Kylo?”

Kylo hadn’t realized he’d been zoning out until Armitage called his name. He looked up at him and smiled. Maybe his family kept secrets from him, but at least Armitage trusted him.

“Everything okay?” Armitage asked. 

“Yeah. Just thinking.” Kylo saw that Armitage had already finished eating and he quickly finished his own bowl, then took both of their dishes to the sink. When he turned back to Armitage he noticed he was staring out the window. Kylo immediately went to stand beside him, looking to see if there was something out there, but he didn’t notice anything.

“What are you looking at?” Kylo asked.

“Oh. Nothing. Just looking outside.”

“Hey, did you want to go out into the yard? No one would be able to see you there.”

“Um, yeah. That sounds nice.”

Kylo grinned and took Armitage by the hand, wanting to get him outside immediately, but he quickly realized that Armitage didn’t have shoes on. He instead led him towards the front of the house and found his shoes by the front door.

“I’m not going out in the front,” Armitage said.

“I know. Thought you might want your shoes.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Armitage pulled his hand free from Kylo and put his shoes on, then he reached back over to take Kylo’s hand and Kylo couldn’t help but smile. He returned to the back door and went outside with Armitage.

The yard was a bit messy, but Kylo wasn’t surprised to see that. Neither of his parents had really been the gardening types, but some of the friends who had stayed with them through the years were. It had been those various aunts and uncles who had planted most of the flowers and trees, but they were no longer growing perfectly in place, and many plants had started growing out of control.

“I know it’s not the nicest yard,” Kylo said. 

“No,” Armitage said as he started to walk into the garden. “It’s perfect.”

Kylo had lots of memories growing up in that garden - trees he used to climb up, places he used to dig, the little area where he’d grown flowers one spring before getting bored with it. Looking at his old flower garden, he had the sudden urge to plant flowers again and he wondered what kind of flowers Armitage would like.

“This place is massive,” Armitage said. 

“Yeah, sometimes my dad would put up a tent for me so I could pretend I was camping when he couldn’t take me for real.”

“That sounds nice. I’ve never been camping.”

“We could camp here if you wanted to,” Kylo offered. “I’m sure my dad still has a tent we could use.”

“Is that all it is? Sleeping outside in a tent?”

“Well, normally you’d have a fire and you roast marshmallows and make s’mores and you’ve probably never had a s’more before. I’m sorry. I keep bringing up all these things that you don’t know about.”

“It’s okay,” Armitage said with a small smile. “That means you can teach me.” He leaned towards Kylo and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before turning away and continuing to walk through the garden, but he still kept his hand in Kylo’s.

Kylo was surprised by the kiss. It had only been a few days since their “date” when Kylo thought things might have been heading in a romantic direction. He’d hoped that it might, but he still worried about whether or not Armitage really liked him or if he just felt obligated.

“You even have secret paths here,” Armitage said, stopping where there were a few stepping stones in the ground leading into some trees.

“That’s new,” Kylo said. At least, he didn’t remember that being there before, but they were in the back of the yard and it had been a very long time since Kylo had gone there. 

“Let’s see where it goes, shall we?” Armitage took the lead down the path and Kylo was almost immediately hit with tree branches. Armitage was nearly as tall as he was, but he was more slender and seemed to be having an easier time moving through the trees. At least it wasn’t a very long path and soon they found themselves in a small opening up against the fence. There were more stones on the ground in the opening, so it had very clearly been built by someone.

“I had no idea this was here,” Kylo said as he looked around. It was a nice little spot and one he’d have to keep in mind. It would be a good place to hide from his family.

“I like it back here,” Armitage said. 

“Hey, you know what? You could come back here when I’m at work. And you could shift and no one would see you and then you could run around the entire garden instead of staying in my room.”

“Um.”

“You don’t have to,” Kylo said quickly. “I just thought you might like to. But you don’t have to. You can stay in the house if you want.”

“Are you sure it’d be okay? You do remember that when I shift back to human I’ll be naked, right?”

“Yeah. That’s why I thought this would be a good place to shift. No one would see you.”

“Your family won’t care?”

“Why would they? It’s not like you’re going streaking through the backyard and even then, I’m not sure they’d care. Pretty sure Poe’s done that before.”

“Well, I certainly won’t be doing that,” Armitage said. He sat down on a log laying on the edge of the clearing and Kylo joined him.

“You can just stay inside if you want,” Kylo said. “But you’re more than welcome to come out here too.”

“It would be nice,” Armitage murmured. They fell into silence, but it was a comfortable silence, the two of them just sitting there, listening to the sounds around them. Kylo noticed that Armitage was inching his leg closer and closer until their knees were touching. 

After a few moments, Kylo scooted a little closer as well. He imagined that the two of them would scoot closer and closer and then maybe Armitage would lean against him and Kylo would wrap his arms around him and hold him. Kylo couldn’t imagine anything better but then, Armitage moved faster than Kylo could process what was happening. Before he knew it, Armitage was in his lap, arms behind his neck and he was kissing him.

It took Kylo a few moments to react, but he soon kissed back, parting his lips and letting Armitage slide his tongue in. He put his hands on Armitage’s back, but then he fully became aware of what was going on, and he gently pushed Armitage away. 

“Sorry,” Armitage said, face red.

“It’s okay,” Kylo said. “More than okay. Uh, I really liked that.”

“So why’d you stop?”

“I don’t want you to do this if it’s only because you feel obligated. I know I’m not very nice to look at and I’m sure you’d rather have someone prettier. So as much as I’d like to go there, I’m more than happy to just be friends.”

“Kylo, I’m not sure there’s a prettier man anywhere in the world.”

Kylo stared at Armitage, not sure he’d heard him right. There was no way he could have said those words and been serious. He knew he lacked quite a bit in the appearance department. But Armitage wasn’t laughing at him. He was smiling and he leaned in, giving him a quick kiss.

“I do want this,” he said. “Um. I’ve never really had a boyfriend before though. So I don’t really know how this works.”

“My only relationships were kinda disasters,” Kylo admitted. “But we’ll take things slow. Make sure it all works out.”

Kylo hated to think that things with Armitage would end like his past relationships. But he was much younger and stupider back then. There was no way he’d make the same mistakes again. Especially not with Armitage, who he already cared about more than he’d ever cared about another person.

He pulled Armitage into another kiss, not quite able to believe that Armitage wanted him. But he was very happy that he did.


	10. Chapter 10

Armitage had never been happier in his life. He’d never even dreamed that he might have so much - a safe place to live, a loving boyfriend, and maybe even friends. Armitage wasn’t quite sure he could consider the rest of Kylo’s family friends, but they were all very welcoming. He even had time where he could simply relax and not be yelled at, and he’d taken every opportunity for that.

Before moving in with Kylo’s family, Armitage couldn’t remember a time he’d been allowed to sit outside in a chair and drink lemonade without having to worry about hiding his ears and tail. In fact, he hadn’t even had lemonade before he met Kylo. It was one of many things that Armitage had learned to enjoy while living with Kylo and his family.

By far, the best thing he had was Kylo himself. Armitage put down the book he was reading - yet another little luxury - and watched Kylo as he painted. Kylo had recently started painting after Armitage asked him about all the art supplies in his room and Armitage was glad he did. He enjoyed watching Kylo paint, and fortunately, he was painting every weekend.

Armitage would have been happy to sit outside with Kylo all day. They didn’t speak much when they were outside together, but it was a very comfortable silence. Even when he caught Kylo watching him, he wasn’t uneasy. If it had only been the two of them, it would have been absolutely perfect. The downside to living with so many people was that they were rarely alone for very long, and Armitage could see that he was about to have company.

Poe headed towards him, picking up a lawn chair on his way. He put the chair down next to Armitage and sat down. Armitage looked back to his book, but he knew that even if he was reading, Poe would still try to engage him in conversation. Poe was nice enough, but he liked to talk and Armitage was never sure what to say.

“What are you reading?” 

“A book.”

“You’re funny, Armie,” Poe said. He reached over and grabbed the book from him. Armitage tried to grab it back but there was no point putting too much effort in - Poe was persistent and would manage to get the book from him eventually. 

Poe flipped through the book and then tossed it back to Armitage. He frowned at it, seeing that Poe had lost his spot. He knew exactly where he was, but he was still a little irritated. He didn’t mind being around the others, but Poe didn’t know how to be quiet.

“So what do you think?”

“What?” Armitage didn’t even realize that Poe had been talking. He was at least getting better at tuning him out.

“About the party.”

“Party?”

“Ben’s birthday party. You weren’t listening to a word I said, were you?”

“Not really.”

“It’s okay. But I thought that since you know Ben -”

“Kylo,” Armitage interrupted. “His name is Kylo.”

“Yeah, sure,” Poe agreed quickly. “So what do you think Kylo would want for his birthday party?”

“Is having parties for your birthday typical?”

“Uh, yeah?” Poe fell silent for a few moments and Armitage thought that he’d finally be quiet, but the silence didn’t last long. “Armie, have you never had a birthday party?”

“Of course not. Why would I have a party for such a thing?”

“Holy shit, Armie. That is so fucked up. When’s your birthday? We’re going to make up for every single birthday you didn’t have.”

Armitage didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t entirely sure that Poe wasn’t just messing with him at first, but he looked completely serious. It wasn’t too surprising to learn that there was something most people did that he never experienced. It wasn’t as if Brendol was the type to enjoy parties.

“So when is it?”

“Sometime in October, I think, Armitage said with a shrug. “Maybe November. I don’t really know.”

“Every time I learn something new about you, it just gets more and more fucked up. I’m not really the type of person that likes to get into fights, but if I ever saw your dad, I’d punch him.”

Armitage couldn’t help but smile at that. He really wished someone would punch Brendol in the face, and it didn’t really matter who. Of course, he really liked the idea of Kylo doing it. Or even doing it himself, although he was sure he'd be the one to end up injured if he did that. That thought made him no longer want Kylo to punch Brendol. He wouldn’t want Kylo to get hurt.

“Seriously,” Poe said. “You tell me where to find him and I’ll fight him.”

“Thanks,” Armitage said. He liked the idea that someone would fight for him. He knew that Kylo would, but it was a little surprising Poe would do the same, especially since they hardly knew each other.

“Since your birthday is so far away, maybe we should have a party for you every month. You know. To make up for all the parties you didn’t have.”

“I really don’t need that,” Armitage said, shaking his head.

“Okay, fine. We’ll just have a massive party for your birthday. We’ll make sure it’s the best party you could ever imagine.”

“I don’t…” Armitage didn’t want anything, but Poe seemed determined and Armitage didn’t want to risk making him angry. “You can do whatever you want.”

“Hey,” Kylo called. Armitage looked up and saw he was walking towards them, paintbrush in hand. “Are you bothering him?”

“Just talking,” Poe said.

“Looks like you’re bothering him,” Kylo said, poking him with his paintbrush.

“Dude, what the fuck?” Poe jumped up. “Why are you painting on me?”

“Why are you bothering Armie?”

“I’m not! Am I not allowed to be friends with him now?”

“No!”

“This is why no one likes you, Ben.” Poe stormed off and Kylo threw his paintbrush at Poe’s back, making another mark on him. 

“Sorry about that,” Kylo said, sitting down in the seat Poe had vacated. “I know he’s annoying. Want me to make him leave you alone?”

“It’s alright,” Armitage said. “He’s just a lot. I’m not used to people being so… obnoxiously friendly.”

“I guess that’s one way to describe him.”

Armitage looked at his book, and although he could read with Kylo there, he didn’t quite feel like reading anymore. He reached over to Kylo and took his hand, but as was common now that they were officially boyfriends, Armitage quickly decided that holding hands wasn’t enough.

“Want to go inside?” Armitage asked. Kylo nodded and they started to make their way inside, but as they walked past where Kylo had been painting, Armitage stopped to look at his work and immediately headed over to the easels.

Kylo had been working on two paintings. The larger of the two was one of his usual fantasy paintings - a dragon flying in the clouds. But the smaller one was what really caught Armitage’s attention. A fox was sitting in a garden, surrounded by flowers and looking very peaceful.

“Is this me?” Armitage asked in a whisper.

“Oh. Yeah. Um. Sorry it’s not the best. I really wanted to paint you but I’m not the best at real life stuff. I think I’ve done some werewolves before but I guess I need to practice more.”

“Kylo, it’s perfect.” Armitage walked closer to the painting, admiring the detail. He couldn’t believe that anyone would want to paint him, and the fact that Kylo clearly spent a lot of time on it meant even more. He turned back towards Kylo and pulled him close, kissing him.

Armitage knew he didn’t deserve someone like Kylo and he knew he needed to do whatever it took to make sure that Kylo never left him. He pulled away from Kylo and took his hand once again and led Kylo to his room. Armitage reminded himself that it was _their_ room, but he still wasn’t used to having something of his own like that.

As soon as they were in their room, Armitage shut the door and kissed Kylo again, pushing him towards the bed. Kylo sat down when they reached the bed and Armitage followed him, sitting in his lap. He grabbed the bottom of Kylo’s shirt and finally stopped kissing him but only because he had no other choice if he wanted to get Kylo’s shirt off. As soon as the shirt was on the floor, Armitage was kissing Kylo once again.

Armitage’s hands immediately went to Kylo’s chest, feeling the firm muscle. Kylo was absolutely perfect, broad and muscular and so unlike Armitage. When Kylo’s hands slid up under Armitage’s shirt, he couldn’t help but pull away. He’d never really let Kylo see him without his shirt on besides a few quick glances. His body was nowhere near attractive.

“You okay?” Kylo asked, pulling his hands back and resting them on Armitage’s hips.

“I don’t want you to be disappointed,” Armitage said, looking down at Kylo’s chest. His absolutely perfect chest. “I’m sure you don’t really want to see a skinny thing like me.”

“Armie,” Kylo said softly, reaching up to stroke his cheek. “It’s okay. I don’t care if you’re thin. I still like you. I still think you’re hot.”

“You do?” Armitage thought he had to be just saying that, but when he looked at Kylo’s face, he could see that Kylo was telling the truth. Kylo looked at him with such love and adoration that Armitage knew he couldn’t be making it up.

“Of course I do. But you know we don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with. I don’t mind if you wanna keep your shirt on.”

“No. I… I want to. But I don’t want you to laugh at me.”

“Never.”

Armitage hesitated, but he knew Kylo. He knew he was telling the truth and he wouldn’t make fun of his thin frame. He reached down and pulled his shirt off quickly, not wanting to think too hard about it and end up changing his mind. He wanted to be with Kylo and he wanted to make sure he gave Kylo everything he could.

Kylo’s hands were on him almost immediately, gently caressing him. Armitage tried not to think about all the times he’d been hit everywhere Kylo was touching and he had to remind himself that Kylo wasn’t like that, Kylo wouldn’t hurt him. At least not intentionally. 

He knew that they were going to have sex and Armitage wanted to, but he also knew it had the potential to be painful. From the way some of his old pack talked about it, causing pain was the goal. He didn’t think Kylo would try to hurt him, but he imagined it was unavoidable. Still, Armitage could deal with it. He’d do anything for Kylo.

“Armie?” 

It was only after hearing his name that Armitage realized that Kylo had been touching and kissing him, but he’d just been sitting there, frozen in place.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Armitage leaned forward to kiss Kylo, but he held him back.

“Please tell me.”

“It’s really nothing,” Armitage insisted.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I know. You’re not. I was just thinking. About where we’re going.” Armitage leaned forward, putting all his weight against Kylo’s chest and Kylo quickly wrapped his arms around him. “I do want to have sex but I’m still a bit uncertain.”

“There’s no rush,” Kylo said. “We can wait until you’re ready. Even if it’s years from now.”

Armitage wasn’t sure Kylo really meant that, but at least it made him feel somewhat better. He kissed Kylo’s neck and Kylo reached up, stroking his hair and his ears. Although Armitage wasn’t quite ready to have sex with Kylo, he couldn’t help but push his hips against him, feeling the pressure starting to build.

“Can I try something?” Kylo asked. “Just a little more than what we’ve done before.”

Armitage thought for a moment, wondering just what Kylo had in mind. For the most part, they’d made out and rubbed against each other and Kylo had slipped a hand down Armitage’s pants and given him a quick handjob once as well. He had no idea what Kylo meant, but he trusted him enough and wanted to find out. He nodded and Kylo held him as he moved them so Armitage was now laying down on the bed with Kylo kneeling between his legs.

“Just tell me if you want me to stop or slow down or anything, okay?”

Armitage nodded and Kylo grinned as he quickly removed his own pants before leaning over to kiss Armitage through his pants. Even through the fabric, Armitage could feel Kylo’s hot breath on him and soon, he could feel the wetness of Kylo’s tongue licking him.

“You okay?” Kylo asked, looking up.

“Yes,” Armitage said, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

Kylo continued kissing and licking him even as he reached up to undo the button on his pants. He seemed to be having trouble and Armitage helped him out. Soon, his pants joined Kylo’s on the floor. It was only after Kylo applied a tiny kiss to the inside of his thigh that Armitage realized that he was completely naked. That idea didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would.

Soon Kylo moved from Armitage’s thighs and brushed his tongue across his balls before taking one into his mouth. Armitage couldn’t help the sound that escaped as Kylo sucked on him. He’d never realized anything could feel so good. He put a hand over his mouth, wanting to prevent any more such noises from happening.

“You can be as loud as you want,” Kylo said, glancing up. “I think Poe’s the only one here and it’s not like anyone would care anyway.”

“You don’t care if everyone knows what we’re doing?”

“They already assume we’ve done it before,” Kylo said with a shrug before returning his attention to Armitage’s balls. As he continued to lick and suck, he wrapped a hand around Armitage’s cock, holding him for a moment before he started to slowly stroke him.

Armitage couldn’t help but to thrust into Kylo’s hand, feeling that he was close. Right when he thought he was going to come, Kylo pulled his hand away and lifted his head, and Armitage couldn’t help but whine.

“Sorry,” Kylo said. “I just wanted to enjoy this a little longer.”

Before Armitage could ask what he meant, Kylo licked the underside of his cock and then took him inside his mouth. Armitage pushed further inside Kylo’s mouth but stopped himself. He didn’t want to hurt Kylo, but he didn’t even seem to notice. He was sucking, licking, and moaning around Armitage’s cock and all of it was too much and he couldn’t hold back, spilling inside Kylo’s mouth.

Armitage watched as Kylo lifted his head, licking up the last bit of come on his lips. He wanted to kiss those lips, taste himself on Kylo, but he found himself unable to speak or do anything besides lay there and let Kylo kiss him. Kylo slowly trailed kisses up his stomach and chest, finally making his way to Armitage’s neck and settling down next to him as he continued to kiss him.

“Kylo,” Armitage said once he found his voice. “Do you need me to take care of you?”

“Not necessary,” Kylo said, pulling away from Armitage’s neck only enough to speak. “Already took care of it.”

“Oh.” Armitage couldn’t help but think there was a reason Kylo hadn’t asked. Maybe he didn’t really want him or maybe Kylo knew he wouldn’t be good at it. When Kylo stopped kissing him, Armitage feared the worst and thought Kylo would kick him out.

“What’s wrong?” Kylo asked. “You got very still just now.”

“Just thinking.”

“Worrying, more like.” Kylo gave him a quick peck on the lips and Armitage couldn’t help but steal another kiss as Kylo pulled away. “Just know you can tell me anything, okay?”

“Okay,” Armitage agreed with a nod. Looking into Kylo’s eyes, he knew that Kylo cared about him and that he wouldn’t kick him out of the house. But there was still that little voice in the back of his head that wouldn’t let him stop worrying. The only thing he could do was wrap his arms around Kylo and curl up against him and hope for the best.


	11. Chapter 11

Every moment Kylo was away from Armitage was hell. Kylo couldn’t help but think about him and as he sat at work, staring at a screen, he wanted nothing more than to hold Armitage in his arms. It wasn’t the first time Kylo had considered quitting his job. He didn’t really need it, but he didn’t want Armitage to feel bad. 

Kylo was fairly certain that Armitage would prefer to spend more time together as well, but everytime Kylo suggested calling in or quitting, Armitage insisted that he didn’t. Kylo considered telling Armitage that quitting had nothing to do with him and that he’d simply gotten sick of the job, which wouldn’t be entirely a lie, but there was no way around the fact that Armitage was at least somewhat responsible.

If Armitage had never shown up in his life, Kylo would have never gone back to his parents and would still be living in his small apartment. It wouldn’t have been possible for Kylo to quit his job then, but now that he had the option, Kylo really wanted to quit. 

As he was coming up with a reason to give to his boss and to Armie, a shadow fell over his desk and Kylo turned to see that his boss was standing behind him. Snoke always had the habit of sneaking up on people, but since Kylo no longer cared about whether he got fired or not, he didn’t even bother to hide the fact that he’d been doing absolutely nothing.

“Ren. I need to speak to you in my office.”

Snoke walked away without waiting for a response. It took Kylo a moment to realize what Snoke had said. Once he figured it out, he stood and followed Snoke to his office. Normally, he’d be nervous about being called to the office after being caught slacking off, but he thought it might be a blessing if he got fired. It would give him more time to spend with Armitage.

“A friend of mine has asked for help with a very serious situation,” Snoke said as he sat down at his desk. Kylo froze - it didn’t sound like he was getting fired. Or maybe Snoke was going to tell a story before he fired him. It wouldn’t be too unusual for Snoke to waste time like that.

“Have you seen this man?” Snoke picked up a piece of paper from his desk and held it out to Kylo. He walked over and took it from him and as soon as he saw the picture, he shook his head.

“No,” he lied.

“Take a better look.”

Kylo looked again and there was no denying that was Armitage’s picture. He looked unhappy and although he often had a similar look while sitting around at home, Kylo could tell there was something worse going on in the picture. Armitage almost seemed frightened. He probably was, given what Kylo knew about his past.

“Never seen him. Who is he?”

“He’s the son of my friend. He’s disappeared and unfortunately, he’s somewhat unstable. His father has been trying to find him to get him the help he needs. He’s so desperate to find his son that I thought I should at least do what little I can to help.”

“Oh.” Kylo knew he couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t yell at Snoke and tell him he knew the truth and that Armitage was perfectly fine. Better than he’d ever been, in fact. But that could put Armitage at risk. “That sounds… bad.”

“Yes, well, hopefully he’s found soon before something terrible happens. Just between the two of us, the boy has been known to have some violent tendencies.”

Kylo could have laughed at that. There was nothing violent about Armitage. Kylo couldn’t hardly even imagine him hurting someone. But he had to play dumb and get out of there without letting Snoke know that he knew anything.

“I can hang on to this picture,” Kylo offered. “Keep an eye out for him. Is there someone I should call if I do see him?”

“It’s on the bottom of the page, Ren.”

Kylo looked at the sheet of paper and saw there was a number listed there. Not that he would ever call it. “Oh. Um. Did you need anything else?”

“That’s all.”

Kylo returned to his desk and immediately started to pack up his things. He needed to get home and tell Armitage what had happened. Before he could leave, he realized just how suspicious that would look. If he left, Snoke would know that something was up. He’d have to stay the rest of the day and act like everything was normal.

If he had to stay at work, he at least needed to make sure that Armitage was all right. Looking at the time, he saw it was unlikely anyone was home. Rey would be at school and his parents would be at work. Luke might not have been busy but Kylo was fairly certain his uncle wouldn’t be willing to help him out. He had no idea what Poe’s schedule was like, but he didn’t have his number.

Kylo started to text Han, hoping he might be able to take a break and stop in to check on Armitage but he knew Han would ask questions so he deleted what he wrote and texted Rey instead. It would take her longer to respond but at least she wouldn’t bother him with questions. 

It felt like ages before there was a reply, but Rey only told him that she was in school. Kylo quickly texted her back, asking her to go home right away after school. There was no reply and Kylo worried that her class had started and she wouldn’t text back for another hour, but after a few minutes, she texted back, agreeing to check on Armitage.

For a brief moment, Kylo felt better, but then he realized just how long it would be before Rey actually made it home. She still had an hour left of class and then she would probably do something stupid like talk to her friends. What kind of teenager bothered making friends in high school anyway? It wasn’t like they would ever talk to each other again once they graduated. Rey would be wasting time with them instead of making sure Armitage was okay.

As soon as it was close to time for class to end, Kylo started texting Rey, urging her to go home right away. He continued to send messages until Rey finally replied - a single middle finger emoji. Kylo threw his phone on the ground, but grabbed it once he remembered that was his only way to find out about Armitage. Fortunately the screen wasn’t cracked anymore than it already was.

He hated not knowing what was going on with Armitage, but he didn’t have a lot of options. He could go home early and check for himself, and possibly alert Snoke that he knew something, or he would just have to wait for Rey to get home. Not for the first time, he considered setting fire to the building. 

Before Kylo had a chance to start a search for flammable objects, his phone buzzed. He had a text from Rey. Armitage was fine. She also sent a picture of a fox and Kylo was about to question if that was really Armitage or just a random fox, but he could tell that it was Armitage. He’d know him anywhere.

Kylo felt a little better, but he wouldn’t be satisfied until he had Armitage in his arms. As soon as the clock hit five, Kylo was on his feet and heading towards the door.

“Hey Kylo!” 

He should have kept walking, but instead, he found himself turning around to face one of his coworkers. Mitaka. Or something like that. Kylo tried not to talk to him or anyone. “What do you want?”

“A bunch of us are going out for drinks. Want to join us?”

“Why would I want to do that?” Kylo didn’t wait for him to say anything else and quickly made his way out of the building, practically running once he was outside to get to his car as soon as possible. Knowing it was likely he was being watched, he had to take a long way home, but before too long, he was finally there.

Kylo ran through the house, calling for Armitage. The picture Rey had sent him was clearly taken outside so Kylo didn’t spend much time looking in the house and went straight to the backyard. Even without the picture, Kylo would have assumed Armitage was outside as he really seemed to enjoy being outdoors.

He started to yell for him, but then thought better of it. He was sure he hadn’t been followed, but just in case, it wouldn’t do to be yelling Armitage’s name. Fortunately, Armitage found him. The fox came running towards him at full speed, launching himself towards Kylo when he was close enough. Kylo grabbed him without even thinking and placed a quick kiss on his forehead. Armitage rubbed his forehead against Kylo’s face and Kylo really wished they could have stayed like that.

“I gotta talk to you about something,” Kylo said as he put Armitage down. “You’ll probably want to shift though.”

Seeing Armitage’s ears fold down and his tail curl under him, Kylo quickly knelt down and stroked his fur. “We’re all right,” he assured him. “It’s just something serious that happened at work today that you should know about.”

Armitage nuzzled his hand and then ran off. A few minutes later, he returned in human form, fully dressed. Kylo immediately pulled him into a hug and then led him inside. He didn’t want to talk about what had happened - he’d much rather cuddle with Armitage on the couch or take him up to their room, but he couldn’t keep it to himself.

“My boss gave me this today,” Kylo said, pulling the paper from his pocket and handing it to Armitage. “I think he knows that I know you.”

“Does he know where you live? Were you followed? What did you tell him?”

“We’re safe,” Kylo told him. “I acted like I’ve never seen you and I’m not going back. He doesn’t know that I’m here and I don’t think he even knows my old name. You’re going to be okay.”

“He’s still looking for me! He’s never going to stop!”

“I’m not going to let him find you,” Kylo promised.

“You can’t stop him! He’s not going to give up!”

“Armie,” Kylo tried to pull him into a hug but Armitage pushed him away.

“This is serious!”

“I know, but there’s no way for him to find us!”

“You don’t know him!”

“Hey, what’s going on?” Han asked as he walked into the room. Rey, Finn, and Chewie were right behind him.

“Armie’s dad is still looking for him and my boss is helping him,” Kylo explained.

“Shit,” Han said. “Well they don’t have any idea that he’s here, do they? Even if they do, it’s not like they can just show up here.”

“And if he tries, we’ll kick his ass,” Rey said, and Chewie agreed.

“It’s not that simple. If he finds me, it won’t just be him. His pack outnumbers you by quite a bit.”

“Mom’s almost here,” Rey said. “She’ll know what to do.”

“We’re not going to let anything happen to you,” Kylo said. He put a hand on Armitage’s shoulder and when he didn’t push him away for a second time, Kylo wrapped his arms around him. Armitage melted against him and Kylo could feel him shaking and soon, tears soaked into his shirt.

Kylo guided him to the nearest couch and sat down with him, keeping his arms around him the entire time. The others left them alone, which Kylo was grateful for. Han brought Armitage a glass of water, but then left again. Once Armitage had calmed down a bit, he sat up and Kylo offered him the water. He drank, but they didn’t speak.

Armitage seemed to curl up even more against him and he stayed like that until Leia walked into the room. He glanced up and then slowly sat up, but he didn’t move far from Kylo. Not that Kylo would have let him go that easily. There wasn’t much he could do to make him feel safer besides holding him, and Kylo would gladly do that all day.

“Han told me about what happened,” Leia said as she sat down. “We’re not going to let anyone find you, Armitage. I’ll see if there’s anything I can do to make your father no longer a problem, but is there anything else I can do?”

“No,” Armitage said, shaking his head. “But thank you.”

“I’m sure he’s done something illegal so I can give him enough trouble he won’t even be able to think of looking for you. I also think it might be worth seeing if we can get him some bad information and make him think you’ve moved out of state. Would that be all right with you?”

“Yeah,” Armitage agreed.

“Okay. I’ll leave you two alone. And don’t forget, you can always talk to me or let me know if you need anything.”

“He’s never going to stop,” Armitage said once Leia had left. “I’m never going to be free from him.”

“Armie,” Kylo started to reassure him, but Armitage didn’t give him a chance to speak.

“It’s true. I’m grateful for all you’ve done for me, but nothing you can do will stop him. I’m already too afraid to even go outside because he’s found me once before. The only way I’ll be free is if he dies.”

Kylo said nothing, knowing that Armitage was telling the truth. No matter what Kylo did, he knew there would always be the chance that his father would find him. Even if that chance was very small, Armitage would always worry about it. There was only one thing Kylo could do.

“We could kill him.”

Armitage looked at him and for a moment, Kylo thought he said the wrong thing. Maybe Armitage didn’t really want his father dead even if he did hate him. Kylo tried to think of something to say to make it better, but then, Armitage smiled.

“You’d really help me do that?”

“Of course. I’d do anything to make you happy.”

Armitage put his head on Kylo’s shoulder and wrapped an arm around his chest. Kylo stroked his hair, his hand soon drifting up to his soft ears. He didn’t know how serious Armitage was about killing his father, but if that’s what he wanted, Kylo would do it. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for Armitage.

“We’ll have to get him alone,” Armitage said after a while. “He’s rarely anywhere without other pack members. I have ideas about what to do with the body, but I just don’t know how to get him alone.”

“You’ve thought about this before, haven’t you?”

“Every day of my life.”

Kylo held Armitage tighter. He hated that he had to go through such hell that he constantly had to think of how to kill his father. Kylo would make sure that soon he never had to think about Brendol again. And he knew just where to go for help with that.


	12. Chapter 12

Armitage went into the garage where Kylo had moved his car. It was going to be his first time leaving the house since he first arrived. The idea of leaving the safety of the house was terrifying, but he couldn’t stay there forever and he needed to meet the people Kylo thought could help. Armitage trusted Kylo, but he couldn’t bring himself to trust a group of people he’d never met, especially given what they were planning.

Kylo gave him a quick kiss before Armitage climbed into the back seat of the car, laying down as best he could. It wasn’t comfortable, but Armitage would rather take a little discomfort and make sure that no one saw him instead of risking the security of the house. And if things really got bad, he could always shift into a fox. He considered doing that but it would be too much of a pain to dress in the car, and it meant he wouldn’t have been able to talk to Kylo.

“Who exactly are we going to see?” Kylo had been really secretive about it but had promised to tell him when they were on their way.

“I told you about that biker gang I used to be part of,” Kylo said. “Well, they’re the exact kind of people we need for this. Killing people, getting rid of bodies. Kinda their thing.”

“I thought you didn’t leave them on good terms.”

“No, but if I offer them enough money, they should be willing to help us out.”

“Should be? What if they decide they’d rather kill us?”

“I don’t think so. If they wanted me dead, they had plenty of chances to do it. I saw them a few times after I left. I don’t think they’ll suddenly decide they hate me a lot more now. The worst they’ll do is try to drag me back in with them.”

Armitage wasn’t sure he really liked the idea of working with Kylo’s old gang, but he knew they needed help and Armitage didn’t have a better idea. At least he knew he could trust Kylo. That would have to be good enough.

“No one’s following us,” Kylo said. “If you wanted to sit up.”

Armitage trusted Kylo. He really did. But the thought that maybe Kylo hadn’t seen someone following them would not leave his mind. It was better to stay on the safe side and remain hidden.

“I’ll just stay here,” he muttered. As he said the words, he felt stupid. He couldn’t even bring himself to sit up in a car. Just as he was trying to convince himself to do it, Kylo slipped a hand to the backseat and Armitage took it, holding on to him. All he had to do was hold on long enough to kill Brendol. Then he could finally be free.

“You don’t have to come in if you don’t want to,” Kylo said as the car came to a stop.

“Do you not want me to?” Armitage asked, pulling his hand away and finally sitting up.

“It’s not that,” Kylo said. “I told them I was coming but they didn’t respond so I’m not entirely sure how they’re going to take this. And they can be rough.”

“I thought that was the point.”

“Yeah. Just wanted you to know what you’re walking into.”

He could handle it. That’s what he kept telling himself as he got out of the car. He glanced around and saw that no one appeared to have followed them, although there were plenty of cars parked on the street. Someone could have been hiding and watching. But if they were there, then he’d already been seen, so Armitage turned his attention to the house instead of worrying about who might see him.

Armitage would have expected a run down house in desperate need of a paint job, weeds and dirt in the lawn, and maybe even a broken window given how Kylo had described these people. But it looked surprisingly normal. The grass was long and definitely had a lot of weeds, and the tree in the front yard looked messy, but Armitage never would have guessed that a dangerous biker gang lived in that house.

He reminded himself that he had survived Brendol and the rest of the pack on his own. He could definitely handle a biker gang with Kylo by his side. Still, he could feel his heart racing as Kylo walked up to the front door and opened it without knocking or ringing the doorbell. That seemed dangerous but Armitage followed him.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” someone shouted almost as soon as they walked in.

“Hey Cardo,” Kylo said. “I sent Trudgen a text.”

“Oh, you sent him a text? Why the fuck do I care?”

“I need to talk to you guys. It’s important.”

“We don’t want you back.” Cardo’s eyes drifted over to Armitage and he held his ground. Armitage wasn’t going to flinch or show any sign of weakness. He never would again. “We don’t want him either.”

“We don’t want to join,” Kylo said. “Is everyone here?”

“You’re actually here,” said a new voice and Armitage turned to see another person walking towards them. Unlike Cardo, he was smiling and didn’t seem nearly as angry. “Didn’t think you’d actually show up.”

“Did you not tell anyone I was coming?” Kylo asked.

“Like I said. Didn’t think you were really coming. Guess it’s a nice surprise for everyone.”

“Not sure I’d call it nice,” Cardo grumbled.

“What do you want Kylo?” asked the other man, his smile fading.

“I think I should probably talk to everyone at once,” Kylo said. “I think I have a job for you, but you’re all gonna want to hear this.”

“Right. Well. You know where everyone is.”

Kylo didn’t move and Armitage wondered if there was some secret meaning there, but then, Kylo started walking. Armitage followed and he could hear the other two behind him. Kylo led the way down a set of stairs and Armitage immediately got a bad feeling. It couldn’t be smart to go into a basement with a group of dangerous people, could it? But Kylo didn’t seem worried at all.

Armitage could hear the sounds of people as they made their way down and they sounded far too much like Brendol’s pack for comfort. A TV was on, there were loud voices and every now and then, it sounded like something was being hit. Armitage couldn’t help but flinch.

There were four men in the basement, and they looked just about like Armitage expected them to. One was laying on a couch, a bottle of beer in his hand and another was perched on the back of the couch, holding two bottles of beer. One was on the floor and the last man stood over him, and Armitage imagined that’s why he’d heard someone being hit. But the man on the floor was grinning - it didn’t seem like he was upset at all about it.

“Kylo!” The man on the floor jumped up and started walking towards the, but he suddenly stopped. “Or is it Ben now?”

“No,” Kylo said, shaking his head. “I’m still Kylo.”

“What are you doing here?” one of the men on the couch asked. Armitage couldn’t tell which one had spoken, as both of them were fixated on the TV.

“I have a job for you,” Kylo said. 

“We don’t want it.”

“You’ll like it,” Kylo said. “At least hear me out.”

“Come on boys. If there’s some problem Kylo can’t buy his way out of with mommy’s money, it’s gotta be good.”

“Fine. We’ll listen. Want a beer?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Who’s the twink?”

“Right. This is my boyfriend. Armitage. Armitage, the Knights of Ren.” Kylo quickly introduced them. Cardo and Trudgen were the two they had met upstairs, Kuruk was the one laying on the couch with Vicrul perched over him, Ap’lek had been the one on the floor and Ushar had been the one who apparently put him there. Armitage wasn’t sure he’d remember all their names, but hopefully it wouldn’t matter.

“So what’s this job?” Kuruk asked.

“We need help killing Armie’s father.”

No one said anything for what felt like forever. Coming to them was obviously a mistake and Armitage was regretting that he’d ever thought it was a good idea to ask anyone for help. They never should have brought anyone else into it. Now, there were six others who knew what they were planning. That was six people who would be able to tell the authorities who was responsible for Brendol’s death.

“I guess we can’t say no,” Vicrul said. Or maybe it was Kuruk. Armitage already forgot who was who. 

“How much you gonna pay us?” Trudgen asked.

“Sixty thousand?” Kylo offered. Then he quickly added, “And I’ll owe you all a lot of favors?”

“As if we’d need anything from you.”

“Now if you could get us some favors from mommy…”

“I can try?”

“A hundred and twenty thousand and we’ll do it,” Ap’lek said.

“I… yeah. Yeah.” Kylo sighed, but nodded. “I can do that. But I can’t pay it all at once. But you know I’m good for it.”

“Do we?”

“Look, I’m still the same guy you used to know. I just can’t live in chaos anymore.”

“So you’re not the same guy.”

“What’s it going to take? We need your help.”

“Tell us more about the job. Who’s his dad? Why are we killing him?”

“Since when do you need a reason?” Kylo asked.

“He beat me,” Armitage said, speaking up for the first time. “My whole life. He beat me and I ran away. He’s looking for me. I need him dead.”

“That’s as good of a reason as I ever heard,” said Trudgen. “You got a plan?”

“Not really,” Kylo said. “I wanted to know if you’d help me out first.”

“One more thing,” Ushar said. “This guy isn’t some high profile person, is he? How risky is this gonna be?”

“His name is Brendol Hux,” Armitage said. “He’s… he’s no one. He’s important only in his own mind.” That was true enough - outside of shapeshifters, Brendol Hux was no one anyone knew. Armitage wasn’t sure anyone would even miss him.

“Brendol Hux?” Kuruk asked. “You gotta be shitting me.”

“You know him?” Kylo asked and Armitage’s heart started pounding. If they knew him, they could be in a lot of trouble. One of them could already be texting Brendol. None of them had their phones out, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t say anything later. And they knew who Kylo was, which meant his parents’ house would no longer be safe.

“Never met him,” Cardo said.

“But we definitely gotta take this job,” Vicrul said. “Might as well get paid twice for one job.”

“Shut your fucking face!” someone shouted and Armitage flinched.

“What do you mean get paid twice?” Kylo asked. 

“He’s an idiot,” Ushar said quickly. “You know not to listen to him.”

“What did you mean, Vicrul?” Kylo asked, stepping towards him.

“I gotta piss,” he muttered, starting to walk away, but Kylo grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

“You can piss in your pants or tell me what you meant by that,” Kylo growled. Armitage had never seen that side of Kylo, and given everything he had mentioned about his past, he shouldn’t have been surprised, but he could never picture his sweet Kylo as anything else. Now, he could see the other side to him and Armitage wasn’t sure he liked that.

“You’re not the first person to ask for our help killing Brendol Hux,” Vicrul said. Kylo released him and stepped back. 

“Who else wants him dead?” Armitage asked. 

“Probably shouldn’t say,” Trudgen muttered.

“No. Tell me.” Armitage had to know. If someone else hated him just as much as he did, that meant he might have an ally. Or in the worst case scenario, someone who might cause trouble later on.

“She’s coming here later,” Ap’lek said. “I’ll see if she wants to talk to you.”

Knowing that the mystery person was a woman did not help much. There were certainly women in the pack, but Armitage didn’t know of any that would go far enough to hire someone to kill Brendol. Maybe she was someone outside the pack. Brendol dealt with other shapeshifter groups, but Armitage didn’t know anything about them. 

“She says she’ll be here in ten minutes,” Ap’lek said, looking up from his phone. “She definitely wants to meet you.”

Armitage didn’t like the idea of meeting someone like that. He had no idea who the person was, if she was dangerous, or if she even really existed. What if the Knights were working with Brendol and they invented this woman so he would let his guard down and not be prepared when Brendol showed up?

“Armie,” Kylo said softly, pulling him into his arms. Armitage could hear a few snorts and snickers, but he ignored them. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Aw, look how precious,” one of the Knights mocked.

“Go fuck yourself, Kuruk.” Kylo kept his arms around Armitage and although it was somewhat embarrassing to be held in front of a bunch of strangers, he couldn’t help but feel more comfortable like that.

Kylo eventually maneuvered them over to an unoccupied couch and sat down. Armitage could hear the Knights still teasing them, but he didn’t care what they thought, and Kylo apparently didn’t either.

After a while, the doorbell rang and Armitage sat up, but stayed close to Kylo. As he heard footsteps overhead and then coming down the stairs, he looked for a place to hide in case it was a trap. He’d have to shift quickly, and he’d probably need Kylo to help, but there were several places he saw that he could hide.

The person who walked into the basement with Ap’lek was not Brendol. Just as Ap’lek had said, she was a woman, but Armitage had no idea who she was. She was tall, dark-skinned, and muscular, her black hair had a streak of gray in it. Almost immediately, her eyes fell on Armitage, but it was too late to hide.

“Armitage?” she asked, taking a step towards him.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“My name is Rae Sloane. I knew you when you were a child. I’m so glad to see you’re safe. I tried to get you away from Brendol, but I wasn’t able to.” She approached him but stopped a safe distance away, but Armitage didn’t know what to say or do.

“I thought about you everyday,” she continued. “I always hoped you’d break free of him, but I feared he’d make you into a person just like him. I hope that isn’t true.”

“He’s nothing like that sack of shit,” Kylo said.

“You want Brendol dead too,” Armitage said as he stood up. “Why?”

“As your friend says, he’s a sack of shit,” Rae said, glancing to Kylo.

“Most people don’t resort to murder just for that.”

“The pack is mine,” she said. “It always has been, but Brendol and a group of his friends managed to overthrow me. I want what’s mine, and after everything he’s done to you and the other pack members, the only thing he deserves is death.”

Armitage couldn’t argue with that, but what he didn’t understand was why Rae seemed to care about him. No one had before except Kylo. For a moment, they just looked at each other and then Rae stepped forward and reached out. Armitage started to push her away, but he realized she wasn’t attacking him - she was hugging him. He relaxed and let her do it. Hugs weren’t the worst thing he’d experienced.

“Sorry,” she said as she let him go. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”

Almost as soon as he was free of Rae’s arms, he felt a different set of arms wrapping around him from behind. Armitage immediately recognized Kylo and leaned back against him. 

“So you’re paying the Knights to kill Brendol?” Kylo asked.

“I am,” she confirmed.

“Well, then we’ll split the fee,” Kylo said. 

“Way to go, Vicrul,” one of the Knights grumbled.

“That sounds fair enough,” Rae agreed. “We’ll need a plan to get Brendol alone, and preferably far from any potential witnesses.”

“You know his schedule?” one of the Knights asked.

“I do, but it won’t help us. He rarely goes anywhere alone, and never anywhere convenient to grab him. But if we can grab a few of his pack members, he’ll start to notice. Especially if he thinks they’re leaving on their own. He’ll come looking for them.”

“Alone?” Trudgen asked.

“Unlikely, although I assume the group of you can handle his people without too much difficulty.”

“Seems like a lot of work,” Cardo complained. “There’s gotta be an easier way.”

“Yeah. Like something he wants.”

“What about the twink?”

“No,” Kylo said immediately. “Absolutely not.”

“Wait,” Armitage said. “It could work.”

“What are you thinking?” Rae asked.

“I could be bait,” Armitage offered. “I know he wants me back. If I tell him I want to talk, he’ll show up. Probably with a few others but at least I can control where we meet. And then if the rest of you are nearby, you can just take him out.”

“I like it,” Ushar said.

“Me too,” Vicrul agreed.

“I don’t,” Kylo said.

“Neither do I,” Rae added. “But it is the easiest option and I imagine he’d be angry enough at you that he may not even think that it could be a trap. Still, it could be dangerous.”

“I know. But if this is what it takes to make sure he ends up dead, then I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“Armie,” Kylo said, pulling him close. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I do, Kylo.” Armitage turned around in Kylo’s arms. “This is the easiest way to make sure he’s out of my life forever. Then we can live normal lives without always looking over our shoulders wondering if he’s out there. It’ll be worth it.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” Kylo said softly.

“I know,” Armitage said, giving him a quick kiss. “I’ll be okay.”

“Watching the two of you makes me want to vomit!”

“I think we’re done for now,” Kylo said, finally letting go of Armitage. “We’ll work out more specific plan details later.”

“I’ll come up with something,” Rae said. “Then I’ll have the rest of you check it out and we’ll make adjustments as necessary.”

With the first step of their plans made, they made their way upstairs. None of the Knights went with them and that’s when Armitage thought of something. If Rae knew about the pack and was truly the leader, then was she like him? He looked closely at her, but any halfway decent shifter could flawlessly pass as human if they wanted to.

“Are you like me?” Armitage asked just as they made it to the front door.

“What do you mean?” Rae asked.

“A shapeshifter.” Rae looked surprised at how casually he mentioned it, so Armitage explained. “Kylo knows all about it.”

“Well, I suppose there’s no point hiding it,” Rae said. As she spoke, two black ears appeared on the top of her head. A wolf. Armitage hadn’t met many wolves before, and he’d always thought they were frightening. But Rae wasn’t. Not at all.

“I want you to have my number,” Rae said. Kylo took out his phone and quickly put her information in. “You can call or text me at any time if you need anything, okay?”

“Okay,” Armitage said. Her ears disappeared and she walked out of the house. Kylo and Armitage were right behind her and they went their separate ways. Armitage couldn’t help but watch Rae, wondering just why she was so nice to him when the rest of the pack never had been. He might not know her reasons, but it was nice knowing there had been someone who had at least tried before.


	13. Chapter 13

Kylo was starting to regret involving the Knights of Ren. As much as they needed help, Kylo thought they might have been better off figuring things out on their own. It wasn’t the fact that the Knights were texting him constantly that made him think that. It was annoying, especially since the Knights were mostly throwing insults at him. He could handle that. But he didn’t like the fact that they were perfectly fine with the idea of using Armitage as bait just because it would be easier. The Knights had never cared about anyone but themselves, so it really wasn’t a surprise, but Kylo didn’t like anyone who was okay with the idea of Armitage being hurt. 

Once Brendol was gone, Kylo would never speak to them again.

He couldn’t be entirely upset about the situation though, because Armitage was happy. Both with the idea of killing Brendol and because he’d met Rae Sloane. He’d got Armitage his own phone so he didn’t have to borrow Kylo’s to talk to her. Sometimes, Kylo noticed that Armitage would be a little upset after texting Rae, but he never wanted to talk about it. Instead, Armitage would lay in Kylo’s arms, sometimes for hours, until he would feel better and get up and act as if nothing ever happened.

Kylo really didn’t know what to do about the situation. He knew Armitage loved talking to Rae and having a connection with one of his own people, but he hated seeing him upset. He wished Armitage would at least talk about it, but he would just have to hope he’d do so eventually. Kylo wasn’t going to push him to do anything he didn’t want to do.

Now that Kylo wasn’t going to work, he had plenty of time to just sit with Armitage and it was really nice that they had the house to themselves all day while everyone else was at work or school. Usually, they’d sit together on the couch, cuddle, kiss, or whatever else they felt like doing, but as Han and Chewie left for the day, Kylo knew they would have a very different day.

They’d met a few more times with Rae and the Knights to work out their plan and it was finally time to put it in motion. Kylo was pacing around the room, listening as he heard his dad’s car start up and drive away.

“You don’t have to make the call right away,” Kylo said, looking at Hux who was still laying in bed, looking very comfortable. Kylo wanted to crawl in next to him and hold him, but if he did that, he knew he would have trouble letting him go.

“I want to get it over with,” he said, sitting up. 

“You should at least eat breakfast first,” Kylo said.

Armitage nodded, got out of bed, and put his pants on. Kylo could immediately tell that something was wrong - his ears were laying flat on his head and his tail was tight against his leg. Kylo put a hand on his arm but Armitage walked away, leaving their bedroom.

Kylo followed him, wanting to pull him into a hug or at least hold his hand, but he didn’t think he was in the mood to be touched. Kylo really didn’t know what else he could do to make him feel better. Usually Armitage liked to be held and touched and the fact that he had pulled away worried Kylo. Hopefully once the stressful situation passed, Armitage would be back to normal.

Armitage went into the kitchen and poured a bowl of cereal and sat down. He didn’t even pour milk into it. Kylo got his own bowl and grabbed an extra spoon. He then put a spoon and the milk down next to Armitage, who was just staring at his cereal.

“Hey,” Kylo said. “You don’t have to eat if you don’t want to.”

Armitage looked up at Kylo, then at the milk. He poured a little into his bowl and then started eating. Kylo hated that Armitage seemed to be shutting down and he wanted to do something. But if Armitage didn’t want to be held or touched, the only other thing Kylo could do was hit someone. And since the person responsible for hurting Armitage wasn’t there, Kylo couldn’t even do that.

Armitage ate slowly. Even though he had a lot less cereal than Kylo, he took much longer to eat it. Once he finished, Kylo took his bowl and washed it. When he returned to the table, he saw that Armitage was staring at his phone. That reminded Kylo that he had something for Armitage which would hopefully make things easier.

“Don’t call him yet,” Kylo said. “I got something for you.”

He wanted to give him a hug, but he didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. He left and ran back to their room as fast as he could and grabbed the cheap phone he’d picked up at the same time that he got Armitage his phone. He thought it might be good to have a throwaway phone for Armitage to call his father.

Kylo ran back down to the kitchen and saw Armitage was in the exact same spot he’d left him in. He sat down next to him and put the second phone on the table. Armitage stared at it for a moment and then looked up at him.

“So he won’t have your number,” Kylo explained. “I know it wouldn’t be for long, but that way you can just turn this phone off so you won’t even know if he’s trying to contact you.”

“Thank you,” Armitage mumbled as he picked up the phone. He stared at it for a moment and then started to dial the number. Then, once the number was entered, he stared at the screen and then hit the dial button and put it on speakerphone.

As it rang, Armitage started to shake and Kylo couldn’t help himself - he put a hand on top of Armitage’s. He kept the touch light so he could pull away, but he didn’t. Instead, Armitage turned his hand over and held onto Kylo with a tight grip. Kylo immediately scooted his chair so it was against Armitage’s and put his other arm around him.

“This is Brendol,” a voice said over the phone. 

Armitage made a choked off sound and Kylo could see the tears in his eyes. Kylo was tempted to hang up on Brendol, but he knew they had to make the call. But Kylo was starting to think he was going to need to talk to Brendol.

“Who is this?” Brendol demanded.

“It’s Armitage.” His voice was barely louder than a whisper, but Brendol clearly heard him given the string of expletives that came through the phone. Kylo held on tighter to Armitage until Brendol finally asked where Armitage was.

“I can’t tell you,” Armitage said. “But I want to talk to you in person.” 

Armitage tried to give him the meeting location that the Knights and Rae had decided upon, but Brendol kept interrupting to yell at him. Finally, Armitage managed to get all the information out, but Brendol didn’t actually agree to meet. He just kept yelling.

“That’s where I’m going to be. If you want me back, then you’ll be there.” Armitage said, finally speaking loud enough to be heard over Brendol. He reached to hang up, but paused before doing so.

“Fuck you.” With that, he finally hung up on Brendol.

As soon as the call was over, Armitage crawled into Kylo’s lap and did his best to curl up. Kylo held him, kissing the top of his head. Soon, the phone started ringing, and Kylo let go of Armitage with one arm so he could silence the phone and then he turned it off. 

For a long time, Armitage just sat there, crying. Kylo hated that a simple phone call was enough to do that to him and if Kylo’d had any doubts about what they were doing, they would have evaporated. If anyone deserved to die, it was Brendol Hux. Kylo hoped that he died slowly and painfully too.

Armitage eventually straightened up a bit, but stayed in Kylo’s lap. His lower legs were starting to go numb, but he didn’t really mind. It was worth it as long as it made Armitage feel better. Armitage pressed his cheek against Kylo’s and then started kissing his neck.

“Armie,” Kylo said. “Are you okay?”

“I love you,” he mumbled against his neck. “I love you, Kylo.”

“I love you too,” Kylo said, tightening his grip on him. He hadn’t expected Armitage to say those words, but it was the best thing he’d ever heard. He never wanted to let Armitage go. He wanted to hold him and protect him from anyone who would harm him.

Armitage continued to kiss him and before too long, he started to grind his hips against Kylo. There was nothing Kylo wanted more, but he was worried about Armitage. Kylo knew he was in a vulnerable state and he wasn’t sure it was a good idea to do anything. But maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he just got Armitage off.

“Gonna pick you up,” Kylo said. He stood up, feeling a little uneasy on his mostly numb legs, but he managed to stay upright. Armitage wrapped his legs around Kylo’s back as he started to walk.

He got Armitage back to their bedroom, closing the door with his foot. Armitage kissed him the entire way up and when Kylo put him down on the bed, Armitage held on to him, not willing to let him go. Kylo didn’t mind at all, and gently laid down on top of Armitage, putting his arms to the side and using them to support his weight.

Armitage let one hand slide from Kylo’s neck down his back and then to his ass. His hand lingered there for a moment before sliding between them and then Armitage grabbed Kylo’s cock through his pants.

“Armie.” Kylo pulled away slightly, but not enough to keep Armitage from reaching up to continue kissing him. “Let me take care of you. You don’t need to do anything.”

“I want to,” Armitage said between kisses. “I want to do everything with you, Kylo.”

“Me too.” Kylo kissed him, but rolled off of him. “But we don’t have to do it right now. How about I just give you a blowjob?”

“I want to have sex. Not just a blowjob.”

Kylo’s cock really liked that idea, but Kylo wasn’t sure. With everything that Armitage was going through, he felt like he’d be taking advantage of him and the last thing he wanted was for Armitage to have any regrets about his first time. Kylo stroked the side of Armitage’s face, reaching up to pet his ears as well.

“We don’t have to do it now,” Kylo said.

“I want to.” Armitage leaned forward and lightly nipped Kylo on the ear and then whispered, “I want you to fuck me.”

“Fuck,” Kylo groaned. He wanted to and he knew he couldn’t deny Armitage. He’d give Armitage anything he wanted, but he didn’t want to risk damaging their relationship. “If that’s what you want, Armie.”

“It is.” Armitage kissed along his jaw until he reached Kylo’s lips. Kylo could feel Armitage moving around, but didn’t know what he was doing until he took his pants off. He then sat up, removed his shirt and started to undo Kylo’s pants.

Kylo let him do it, lifting his hips to let Armitage remove his pants. As soon as his pants were off, Armitage had his hand on Kylo’s cock, stroking him lightly. Kylo was tempted to let Armitage do whatever he wanted, but he knew they needed to talk about it first.

“Hey,” Kylo said, pulling Armitage’s hand away. He then pulled him down to lay on top of him, giving him a quick kiss. “How do you wanna do this?”

“What do you mean? Like positions or something?”

“Yeah, that. But did you want to top or you want me to?”

Armitage just stared at him for a moment and Kylo started to think he’d said the wrong thing. But Armitage was still sitting on top of him, his hands on his chest. 

“Is that an option?” he asked finally.

“Uh, yeah?” Kylo had thought that much would be obvious. 

“Oh. I thought. I just assumed. That you’d be fucking my ass.” Armitage was looking down, and Kylo gently ran a finger up his arm, wanting to reassure him.

“I can. If that’s what you want. But I thought you might like to do it the other way around. Might be easier for your first time.”

“You’d be okay with that?”

“Yeah. I like being the bottom. But I’m happy to do either.”

“Oh. I didn’t think I’d have a choice.”

“Armie.” Kylo picked up his hand and kissed it gently. “You always have a choice with me. You never have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

Armitage smiled and then dropped down to kiss Kylo. Soon, Armitage slid his hands under Kylo’s shirt and then he was taking it off. Once he’d thrown the shirt to the floor, Armitage started kissing him again. Kylo would have been perfectly happy to stay just like that for hours, but he soon felt Armitage’s hand between them, touching his cock.

“I have lube,” Kylo said when Armitage moved away from his mouth and started kissing his neck. “And condoms. But only if you want to use them. I don’t care.”

“Where?”

“Dresser. Top drawer.”

Armitage got up and as he walked to the dresser, Kylo noticed that his tail was wagging. He’d never seen that before and he couldn’t help but stare, even when Armitage turned around and came back to join him.

“What?” Armitage asked.

“Your tail,” Kylo said.

“Oh.” His face was turning red, so Kylo sat up and kissed him, not wanting him to be embarrassed.

“It’s cute,” he said.

“I can hide it,” he mumbled.

“You don’t have to.” Kylo slid a hand down Armitage’s back to the base of his tail and pet his soft fur. Armitage seemed to relax and Kylo took the lube from his hand. “So you want to top?”

Armitage nodded and Kylo laid back down. He poured a bit of lube over his fingers and reached down to his ass, pushing a finger inside himself. He didn’t want to waste time and quickly added a second finger. Armitage grabbed Kylo’s hand and pushed his fingers deeper inside. He then pulled Kylo’s hand back out and started fucking Kylo with his own hand.

“Fuck,” Kylo moaned. “Armie. Don’t stop.”

Armitage took his free hand and reached up to Kylo’s dripping cock, wrapping his hand around it and stroking him. That was perfect and Kylo couldn’t imagine anything better, but then Armitage leaned down and took his cock in his mouth. Kylo couldn’t help but whine and he wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted more or if it was too much.

Armitage pulled off and licked from the base of his cock to the top and then went back down to the base, putting as much in his mouth as he could. He was practically drooling over Kylo and Kylo quickly decided he needed more in his ass. He grabbed the lube with his free hand and simply poured it near his hole, not even caring how much of a mess he was making. He pushed a third finger inside himself while Armitage continued to push his hand in and suck his cock.

“Armie,” he said after a while. “You gotta stop.” It was hard to say those words, but Kylo didn’t want to come yet. He wanted to wait until Armitage was inside him.

“You okay?” Armitage asked as he lifted his head, a string of drool still connecting his mouth to Kylo’s cock. 

“More than okay,” Kylo said, pulling Armitage up so he could kiss him. He ran a hand through Armitage’s hair, stroking both of his ears as well. He pulled his fingers out of his ass and reached for the lube. “I’m ready.”

Armitage sat back and Kylo poured some lube onto his cock, stroking him to spread it around. Once he was done he let go. Armitage moved to position himself better and then he stared at Kylo’s ass. He didn’t mind, but he didn’t have the patience to wait.

“Please,” he whined. 

“Sorry,” he said. “You sure this won’t hurt you?”

“You won’t.” 

Armitage lined himself up and Kylo could feel his cock at his rim. After a few seconds of Armitage holding still, Kylo pressed himself towards him, impatient for his cock. Armitage got the hint and slowly started to push in. 

He was bigger than Kylo’s fingers and he could feel his rim stretching around him. It felt so much better than his fingers or toys, which was all he’d had for several years. He’d nearly forgotten just how much better it was to have another person inside him, but it was even better because he cared about Armitage. He’d never actually loved anyone he’d had sex with before.

As Armitage finally pushed all the way in, Kylo pulled him down to his chest, needing to kiss him. Kylo held on to him with his arms and legs, one hand holding his head in place so he could kiss him. He felt Armitage smiling and he released his grip on his head, letting him pull away. He was indeed smiling. Grinning, even.

“Kylo,” he said, barely a whisper as he leaned down for another kiss. When he pulled back, he saw still smiling and Kylo felt himself falling more in love. He loved seeing him happy and he’d do everything he could to make sure he had more reasons to smile.

Very slowly, Armitage started to move, sliding out and so very gently pushing back in. Kylo didn’t think he’d ever been fucked so gently - never thought he’d like it - but he never wanted Armitage to stop. He continued to hold on to him, kissing him the entire time, until he felt Armitage pushing back against his grip. Kylo wanted to keep holding him, but he relaxed his grip, letting Armitage sit up a little.

“I’m not going to last much longer,” Armitage said. “Um. Should I pull out?”

Kylo shook his head. “Inside. Please.”

Armitage started to move again, slightly increasing his pace. He dropped back down onto Kylo and he immediately wrapped his arms back around him. Armitage kissed Kylo’s neck, mumbling “I love yous” the entire time. He started moving faster, pushing in deeper with each thrust, panting against Kylo.

Armitage buried his face against Kylo’s neck, muffling the loud cry he let out as he came and Kylo could feel the warmth coating his insides. As much as he wanted to hold him there forever, Kylo was very well aware of his cock trapped between them and he needed to touch himself.

Kylo let his arms drop to Armitage’s hips, wanting to at least keep touching him. Armitage started to pull out but Kylo kept his legs wrapped around him, holding him in place.

“Stay. Wanna come with you inside me.”

Armitage looked down towards Kylo’s cock and then reached out and started to stroke him. It didn’t take much to finally push Kylo over the edge and he felt hot spurts of come hit him on his belly and chest. After he came, he couldn’t keep hold of Armitage and his legs dropped down to the bed and Armitage finally slid out of him.

Kylo laid on the bed, catching his breath. When he finally recovered enough to open his eyes he saw that Armitage was staring at his ass and he could feel his come dripping from his ass. 

“Armie,” Kylo said, grabbing his arm and pulling him down on top of him. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Kylo reached down to pet Armitage’s tail and soon found his way to his ass. He ran his hand over him and then gave him a gentle squeeze.

“You know,” Kylo said, hand still on Armitage’s ass, “we got a few hours before anyone comes home. If you want another round.”

“Hmm.” Armitage didn’t say anything else and Kylo stroked his hair and ears. He turned his head just enough to see that he was asleep. Kylo kissed the top of his head and decided that Armitage had the right idea. He put his arms around his back to hold him in place and closed his eyes. He would have liked to clean up first, but he wasn’t about to wake Armitage up for that. He could worry about the mess later. Napping with Armitage on top of him was worth the price of sleeping in a mess.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I changed the archive warning on this to include graphic depictions of violence. This is the only chapter that it applies to. Spoilers for that scene are in the bottom notes, and since some of you who have started to read might not want that, I wrote a version that glosses over the scene which you can find [here](https://coragyps.dreamwidth.org/9563.html). If you'd like to just skip the worst of it here on ao3, skip from the paragraph beginning with "He kept up the fast attack" to the sentence/paragraph "He was finally free."
> 
> If there's any of the other new tags that you'd like to skip, please let me know in a comment or on [twitter](https://twitter.com/Battle_Walrus) and I can get you a version without it!

Armitage felt like he’d been standing in the forest for hours. He was tempted to turn the phone in his pocket on so he could see what time it was, but if he did that, he knew he’d see all kinds of nasty messages from Brendol. Armitage had hardly even looked at the phone since arranging the meeting and he’d only brought it in case Brendol didn’t show, which Armitage was starting to suspect might happen.

Part of him almost wished that would happen. He wouldn’t have to see Brendol and he could go home and curl up with Kylo. But that would also mean that Brendol would still be alive, and more than anything, Armitage wanted him dead.

Once he didn’t have to worry about Brendol, everything would be so much better. He wouldn’t have to stay hiding in a house. He’d actually be able to go out with Kylo and do… something. Armitage had no idea what he wanted to do, but as long as he was with Kylo, it didn’t matter.

He resisted the urge to look around for Kylo. He was somewhere nearby, as were Rae and the Knights of Ren. Armitage wanted Kylo or Rae to be with him, but if Brendol saw anyone else, Armitage knew he might leave. It would be much easier if Brendol didn’t suspect anything until it was too late.

Knowing he had friends nearby made Armitage feel better. He knew they wouldn’t let anything happen to him. But then, he saw Brendol walking towards him, and the only thing Armitage wanted to do was run. It had seemed like a good plan but now that Brendol was coming towards him, Armitage realized it was stupid. Brendol would force him to go back with the pack and he’d hurt Kylo in the process.

As much as he wanted to run away, Armitage knew it was too late. It looked like Brendol had brought half the pack with him, and several of them were shifted. Armitage couldn’t outrun a coyote. The only thing he could do was hope that his friends managed to win against the pack.

“You stupid boy!” Brendol shouted as he approached. “You run off for months then make me come out here to get you! You’ll be lucky if it takes you a month to recover when I’m through with you!”

Armitage could feel himself shaking, but he wasn’t going to cry. He felt the knife hooked to the back of his belt and was tempted to pull it out, but that wasn’t part of the plan. Of course, if Armitage did attack, he knew the others would jump in. 

“Let’s go, boy!” Brendol shouted.

“No,” Armitage said, his voice surprisingly steady. “I’m not going with you. Ever.”

“You have no way of stopping me from taking you with me,” Brendol said. “Oh, wait? Did you have some kind of plan? You thought your friend would be able to stop all of us?” Brendol gestured to the rest of the pack and as he did so, two of them came out from a nearby cluster of trees, dragging Kylo between them.

“Kylo!” Armitage tried running towards him, but Brendol grabbed him and threw him to the ground.

“This was your plan? You really thought one man could stop the pack? You’re pathetic.” Brendol slapped him, hard. In the past, he would have cowered, done whatever Brendol wanted just to make him stop. But things were going to end differently and Armitage glared up at him.

“You’re so predictable,” Armitage said.

Brendol raised his hand to hit him again, but this time, Armitage grabbed his wrist, stopping him. Brendol was stronger than him, but he seemed shocked at Armitage’s actions. That gave Armitage enough time to kick Brendol’s legs out from under him - a move he’d perfected while training with the Knights.

Just as he started to scramble away, he felt a hand on his upper arm and he turned to see Enric Pryde, the man Brendol had insisted he take as a mate. Armitage was more certain than ever that would never happen and he growled at Pryde.

“Stupid boy,” Pryde growled as he yanked Armitage towards him. “You’re mine!”

“Go fuck yourself old man!” Armitage kicked him, but Pryde only tightened his grip and continued to try to drag him away. Armitage struggled and tried to pull away, but Pryde refused to let go.

A loud howl rang through the air and for a moment, everyone froze. Armitage was the least surprised by the howl and as Pryde’s grip loosened, he pulled away from him. A black wolf jumped in front of Armitage, growling at Pryde and Brendol, who was standing just behind Pryde.

“Sloane,” Brendol said. “I should have known you were responsible for this!”

“No matter,” Pryde said. “One wolf can’t stand against us all.”

No one moved for several moments. Brendol and Pryde couldn’t see what was going on behind them, but Armitage could. He watched as the Knights of Ren came out of their hiding places and started to engage in battle with the pack. The noise caught Brendol’s attention and he turned around. 

Brendol quickly turned his attention back to Armitage and lunged towards him, but Rae blocked him, knocking him to the ground. Pryde started to pull Rae away, and Armitage started to pull out his knife, but then Kylo was in the fight, hitting Pryde and keeping him off of Rae.

“Get out of here, Armie!” Kylo shouted. 

That was the plan. Armitage only had to lure Brendol and the others in close and let the Knights surround them. Once the fighting started, he was supposed to get out of the area. Kylo and the Knights had taught him a few useful fighting skills - just enough to help him in a tight spot - but he didn’t have the experience to go with it. 

Armitage watched for a few moments, thinking about trying to join in the fight, but everything was moving so fast. Pryde had shifted into his coyote form and was fighting Kylo. Brendol was doing his best to avoid Rae. And the Knights were everywhere, hitting anyone who got in their way with their weapons. The best thing Armitage could do was stay out of everyone’s way. 

As soon as he made it to his hiding place, Armitage turned his attention back to the fight. For a few moments, it looked like things were going well. Pryde was on the ground, not moving and hopefully dead. Kylo was fighting his way towards Rae and Brendol and the Knights were holding their own.

Then, one of the Knights - Kuruk - went down. Ap’lek soon followed. Brendol kicked Rae in the head and she dropped to the ground. The remaining Knights tried to get to their fallen comrades and soon found themselves surrounded. And then Kylo was knocked to the ground and was slow to get up. As soon as he managed to sit up, he was knocked back down and a large coyote sat on his back.

“Armitage!” Brendol shouted. “Get out here right now and I might spare their lives!”

Armitage remained hiding. He would never go back. They didn’t have a plan for what they would do if things looked bad, but Armitage knew he couldn’t return to his father. Even if Pryde was dead, he knew Brendol would beat him and find some other terrible person to take as a mate.

“Kill them!” Brendol shouted, pointing at Kylo. “Start with that one!”

“Stop!” Armitage ran out from his hiding place without even thinking. As much as he knew he couldn’t go back to the pack, he knew he couldn’t let anything happen to Kylo. Even if Brendol killed him, it wouldn’t matter as long as Kylo was safe.

“There you are, you coward,” Brendol growled.

“Armie!” Kylo cried out. “Get out of here!”

Armitage couldn’t leave Kylo there to die. But he couldn’t go with Brendol either. Not knowing what else to do, he just stood there, staring. He was vaguely aware that Brendol was shouting at him, but he wasn’t really listening to him. It wasn’t until he suddenly fell silent that Armitage really took notice of what was happening.

A very large, very hairy animal was charging towards the group. No one seemed to know what to do, but he crashed through the group that had the Knights surrounded and came to a quick stop near Kylo. He turned much quicker than an animal that size should have been able to and kicked the coyote off of Kylo’s back with his hooves. Then, the animal turned his attention towards Brendol. 

Brendol jumped out of the way, but the new person - he must be a shifter, Armitage decided - had completely changed the course of the battle. The pack was exhausted and the new shifter was larger than any of them. Not only did he have hooves, but he had horns as well. The pack didn’t stand a chance.

As Kylo and the Knights started to fight again, Armitage saw that Brendol was running away. He must have known his side couldn’t win. As much as Armitage would have liked everything to be over, he couldn’t let Brendol get away. The entire reason they were there in the middle of nowhere was to kill Brendol, and Armitage was going to make sure that happened.

He ran after him, pulling his knife out. Armitage was faster than Brendol and managed to catch up to him and he sank the blade into Brendol’s back. Armitage had hoped that would be enough, that Brendol would fall to the ground dead and it would all be over. Instead, Brendol turned around, angrier than Armitage had ever seen him. Before Armitage could even react, Brendol punched him so hard he saw stars.

By the time his vision cleared up, Brendol was shifting into his fox form. Armitage tried to grab the knife, but quickly realized that he’d need to shift too. Brendol was trying to run away, not fight, and in his fox form, he’d be faster than Armitage in his human form. But in his fox form, Armitage knew he could outrun Brendol.

Armitage started to shift, and by the time he’d finished, Brendol had already taken off. But no head start would be enough because Armitage was going to make sure Brendol died. He took off after him, running as fast as he could and soon caught up to Brendol. He pounced, landing on Brendol’s back and attempted to bite his neck.

Brendol managed to shake Armitage off, but he didn’t try to run again. Instead, he turned to face Armitage, his ears and tail held high. Without even thinking, Armitage crouched down, curling his tail around his body and laying his ears down. He was so used to taking a submissive position that it took him a moment to remember that this encounter was different.

Armitage got up, let his ears stand up and swished his tail behind him, then opened his mouth wide as he let out a loud scream. Brendol did the same and then charged at him, mouth wide. Armitage used his front paws to try to push him away, and the two of them ended up on their hind legs, pushing against each other and attempting to bite.

Brendol was stronger than Armitage, and Armitage knew he was going to lose if he continued to fight playing by Brendol’s rules. He dropped to the ground and quickly darted away from him. Then, he turned quickly and charged at Brendol. Armitage managed to bite Brendol’s ankle, but didn’t have time to do any real damage before he darted away again.

He kept up the fast attack, darting in and out before Brendol could catch him. Finally, it seemed to wear Brendol down and he was unable to move quick enough to face Armitage as he grabbed Brendol’s hind leg in his jaws and chomped down as hard as he could. He could feel and hear the satisfying crack of breaking bones and he knew he’d finally won.

With a broken leg, Brendol would have difficulty shifting and it would be impossible for him to run away. Just for good measure, Armitage grabbed a hold of his other back leg and broke that one as well. Brendol let out a whimper of pain as he collapsed to the ground.

Armitage slowly circled him, imagining all the things he could do. He could make his father pay for everything he’d ever done. Brendol tried to drag himself away with his front legs and Armitage was tempted to break those as well, but just because he’d crippled Brendol didn’t mean his teeth weren’t dangerous.

Still, he could make Brendol suffer a little more before he killed him. He would have liked to pick him up, shake him and throw him, just as Brendol had done to him before, but Armitage didn’t think he had the strength to do that. Instead, he went for the weakest point on Brendol’s body.

Standing in front of him, Armitage swiped at his face with a paw, making sure his claws hit him in the eye. Brendol let out a cry of pain and wanting him to suffer more, Armitage pressed his paw down on his face, sinking his claws into Brendol’s eye. He struggled and tried to bite Armitage, but he used his other paw to hold his muzzle to the ground. Once he was satisfied with the damage to the first eye, he did the same to the other.

For a moment, Armitage considered leaving Brendol like that. If he remained in his fox form, something would surely come and finish him off. And even if he managed to shift, he had two broken legs and was blind. He’d be stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

As much as Armitage would have liked Brendol to have a long, drawn out death full of suffering, he also wanted to be the one to kill him and make certain that he was dead. Armitage watched him for a while, laying on the ground, covered in blood and shaking. Just the way Brendol had left him many times before.

Finally, Armitage had enough and walked over to him and grabbed him by the neck. Brendol put up a weak effort to shake him off, but he didn’t have the strength left. Armitage savored the feeling of his teeth on Brendol’s neck for a moment and then he crushed his neck.

The forest seemed completely silent for a few moments as Armitage looked at Brendol’s unmoving body. 

He’d killed him. 

He was finally free.

Armitage heard Kylo’s voice calling his name and he started walking towards the sound of his voice. He didn’t have much energy left and found himself only able to walk at a slow pace. When he saw Kylo, he stopped and looked at him, happy to see that he was all right. His tail started to wag as Kylo ran over to him and before Armitage knew it, he was right where he wanted to be - in Kylo’s arms.

Wanting to hug him properly, Armitage started to shift. It hurt, but Armitage didn’t mind. Now that Brendol was dead, no one would ever hurt him again. As soon as he had arms, he wrapped them around Kylo and held him tightly.

Armitage had no idea how long they stayed like that, but his ears twitched when he heard Rae and the Knights calling for them. He really wanted to hug Kylo forever, but he’d prefer if the Knights didn’t find him naked. Slowly, he pulled away from Kylo and for the first time, Armitage noticed just how beaten up he was.

“Kylo,” he said, lightly touching the side of his face. He had a cut running down his cheek and bruises starting to form under his eyes.

“You’re hurt,” Kylo said with a frown.

“So are you.”

“That doesn’t matter. I didn’t want you getting hurt.”

“It’s okay. He’s dead now. He can’t hurt me ever again.”

Kylo pulled him back in for another hug, but the sound of voices was getting closer and Armitage pulled away much sooner than he would have liked. Fortunately, his clothes were close and he dressed before Trudgen and Vicrul showed up.

“There you are,” Trudgen said. “Come on. We gotta finish this up.”

Armitage and Kylo followed the two Knights to the site of the battle. Rae was standing in front of what was left of the pack, all in human form. Armitage looked at the survivor’s and then at those laying dead on the ground. He was happy to see Pryde was among the dead. In fact, everyone he’d wanted dead had been killed. The remaining pack members were mostly the younger ones who had never participated in the abuse.

“Mitaka?” Kylo asked. “Wait. You’re a shapeshifter?”

“You know him?” Armitage asked.

“I used to work with him.”

Armitage looked at Dopheld Mitaka, who was standing with the others. He wasn’t a friend, but Armitage had spoken to him a few times before. He seemed like a nice enough person, although it wasn’t as if Brendol ever gave him a chance to really find out. Mitaka seemed to shrink back in the crowd, and Armitage wondered if he’d suffered at the hands of Brendol as well.

“How is it that I know so many shapeshifters?” Kylo asked.

“You two look terrible,” Rae said.

“So do you,” Armitage said, but he couldn’t help but grin. Rae was just as beaten up as Kylo, but it didn’t matter. They’d won. She pulled him into a hug, and as she let him go, Kylo was quick to wrap his arms around him.

“You should have told me that you had another friend joining us,” she said.

“We didn’t,” Armitage said. Almost as soon as he said that, a very tall, hairy man came out of the woods and Armitage put things together. Kylo’s Uncle Chewbacca had been the mystery shifter.

“Uncle Chewie?” Kylo asked, sounding very surprised.

Chewbacca said something quickly, but Armitage had no idea what he said. He looked at Kylo, hoping to get a translation. 

“He’s mad we didn’t tell him,” Kylo said once Chewbacca finished speaking. “Said we should have known to let him know, but he’s glad we’re all right.”

“How did he know where we were?”

“He’s been following us for a while,” Kylo translated. “Knew we were up to something. And he wants us to go home with him right now.”

“Wait.” Armitage just realized what that meant. They’d been trying to keep things secret for a reason. If Chewbacca knew everything, then that meant everyone else in Kylo’s family might know as well. “Are you going to tell anyone else about this? Are you going to tell anyone?”

“No,” Kylo said. “He says it’s not his business to tell but we won’t be able to keep it secret forever because Leia is going to know.”

“She won’t though, will she?”

“No,” Kylo assured him. “We’re going to be okay.”

“He’s right about one thing,” Rae said. “The two of you should go home with him. I can finish up with the pack for now and fill you in later.”

Armitage nodded. That sounded like a good plan. He was tired and just wanted to be with Kylo. He took a step and felt a weight in his pocket. His phone was still there. He took it out of his pocket and looked at it. Now that Brendol was dead, it wouldn’t be so bad to see what kind of messages he’d sent. He started to turn it on, but Kylo put a hand over his. Armitage looked up at him.

“You don’t need to look,” Kylo said. “He’s dead. Let whatever he said die with him. You don’t need to see whatever stupid shit he said to you.”

Armitage hesitated, but then gave the phone to Kylo. He was right - there was no reason to look at Brendol’s messages. There was nothing of value there.

“Hey! Vicrul!” Kylo called. When the Knight looked, Kylo tossed him the phone. “Something for you to destroy!”

Vicrul grinned and then threw the phone against a nearby rock. Armitage smiled as it was smashed into pieces. Vicrul picked up the largest remaining piece and threw it again. As Armitage walked away with Kylo and Chewbacca, he could still hear Vicrul destroying what was left of the phone.

The sound of Brendol’s last messages being smashed to oblivion was a very satisfying sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So more details on the tags:
> 
> Armitage, Kylo, Rae, and the Knights are all injured, but nothing serious for Armie or Kylo and no mention of specific injuries for the others  
> Brendol and Pryde are both killed while in animal form (fox and coyote)  
> Armitage draws out Brendol's death more than necessary and considers doing worse  
> Armitage stabs Brendol with a knife while both are human  
> While both are in fox form, Armitage breaks Brendol's legs and claws his eyes out before killing him


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doing this a week early and hopefully next week, I'll have the last chapter up!

It had nearly been a full day since Armitage had killed Brendol and Kylo had barely taken his hands off of him. He’d held onto him on the car ride home, ignoring Chewbacca’s insistence that they wear seat belts. Kylo needed to be wrapped around him as much as possible and he couldn't do that with a seat belt on. As they walked into the house, Kylo had kept an arm wrapped around him as he took him up to their room. He helped Armitage take off his dirty clothes and wrapped his arms around his waist while he picked out clean clothes.

He’d had to let go briefly when Chewbacca brought them a first aid kit, but once he had the kit open, he was back with Armitage, tending to his wounds. Armitage had even done the same for Kylo, and then they’d fallen asleep in each other’s arms.

Even when they’d gone to the bathroom and showered, Kylo still did his best to hold onto Armitage. They hadn’t spoken much, as Kylo wanted to give Armitage as much time as he needed to be ready. But he couldn’t help but keep his arms around him. He needed Armitage to know that he was safe and loved and that no one would ever hurt him again. And Kylo needed to reassure himself that Armitage was all right.

After eating a late breakfast in which Armitage had sat in Kylo’s lap so he could feed him, they settled down on a couch and made themselves comfortable. Kylo was starting to doze off, but Armitage tried to sit up, which fully woke up Kylo. He saw that Armitage’s ears were twitching.

“Someone’s here,” he said.

“Probably just a delivery,” Kylo said with a yawn. He just wanted to go back to sleep while holding Armitage. 

“I don’t think so,” Armitage said.

Before Kylo could say anything, they heard the front door open and then voices. Kylo quickly identified Chewbacca’s voice, followed by Leia’s. He held onto Armitage tighter. They’d hoped to avoid the rest of the family until their injuries healed in hopes of avoiding any questions. As soon as they heard the voices, Armitage started to shift. At least he could still hide his injuries.

Still, Kylo hoped that Leia was only home to pick something up and then she would leave. She wasn’t supposed to be home so early. But Kylo suspected that Chewbacca told her what he and Armitage had done. He said he wouldn’t, but Kylo had trouble believing that.

Leia and Chewbacca walked into the room, and Kylo quickly tried to think of an excuse as to why his face was cut and bruised. He should have come up with an excuse before instead of trying to think of something on the spot. 

“Kylo!” Leia seemed shocked when she saw him. So much for her not noticing the injuries, although Kylo never thought that would be likely.

“You’re home early,” Kylo said, hoping to keep things casual.

“I was hoping to catch you and Armitage out of your room so we could talk,” she said. “We’ll leave the room so Armitage can shift. I think he’s going to want to say something.”

“We can leave,” Kylo suggested as soon as Leia and Chewbacca had left. “We can just disappear and never come back.”

Even as he said the words, Kylo knew he’d hate to do it. He knew it would hurt his parents and Rey. His sister had always been the one person in his family he’d always cared about and he didn’t want to leave her without telling her why. But he would if Armitage wanted to go.

He was shifting, still in Kylo’s arms as he returned to human form. Kylo helped him dress, kissing him as he did so. 

“Did you want to leave?” Kylo asked.

Armitage shook his head. “Not unless you think she’ll have us arrested.”

Kylo had to think about that for a moment. Leia had tried to teach him the importance of doing the right thing, but would she consider turning them in right? Kylo had a hard time believing that she would. Even if it hadn’t been justified, Leia would at least give them a chance to explain themselves. She wouldn't want him in prison.

“I don’t think so,” he said.

“Then let’s stay,” Armitage said. “If we can. I like it here.”

Kylo smiled and Armitage leaned forward, kissing him. For a moment, Kylo almost forgot what was happening as all he could think about was Armitage and his soft lips and how he tasted.

“You’ll have enough time for that later,” Leia said. Kylo pulled away from Armitage and saw that his mom and Chewbacca had come back into the room. It wasn’t the first time that a family member had walked in on him and Armitage kissing, and Kylo had long stopped caring. He loved Armitage and didn’t care who saw them.

They were about to have a serious conversation, so Kylo let Armitage move off his lap, but he still kept an arm around his waist. He stroked his tail before wrapping his arm tightly around Armitage and holding him close.

“Do you want to tell me just how the two of you got beaten up?” Leia asked.

“A fight,” Kylo muttered, not looking at his mother. He felt like he was a kid again, getting suspended from school and having to explain just why he did what he did.

“I know there’s more to it than that,” Leia said.

“What’d you tell her?” Kylo asked Chewbacca.

“Nothing,” he grumbled. “Just that I helped.”

“Chewie hasn’t told me anything,” Leia confirmed. “Which is why I’m asking you.”

“There’s nothing to say about it.”

There was silence in the room, and Kylo could feel Armitage moving slightly next to him. They knew they could never tell anyone what happened, not even Leia. The only people who could know were the people that were there.

“Let me tell you what I know,” Leia said eventually. “Brendol Hux is dead, and judging by your lack of reaction, you already knew that as well. Most of his loyal followers are also dead and the pack has been taken over by a wolf named Rae Sloane. I also know that the two of you have been going off somewhere for weeks and you were gone for a good portion of the day yesterday and Chewie, who was also gone, brought you back home after you’d gotten yourselves beaten up. I think it’s pretty obvious what happened, but I’d like for you to tell me.”

Kylo remained silent. He wasn’t about to tell Leia what really happened and get himself - and Armitage - in trouble. She seemed to know enough as it was and there was no need for him to confirm it.

“I killed him,” Armitage muttered.

Once again, silence filled the room. Kylo hadn’t thought Armitage would admit to it so easily and he had no idea what to say. Whatever happened, he’d support Armitage.

“I killed him,” Armitage repeated, louder. “And I’m glad I did. He got exactly what he deserved.” He stood up and Kylo quickly grabbed his hand, needing to keep touching him.

“I understand if you want me to leave,” Armitage said. “I’ll be gone by tonight.”

“No,” Leia said, as she stepped towards him and pulled him into a hug. “You’re family and you’re always welcome here, no matter what.”

Leia pulled away from Armitage and then reached a hand out to Kylo. He stood up and Leia pulled him into the hug as well. Kylo thought he might actually cry. He’d never thought Leia could accept him knowing what he’d done. But even though she’d been talking to Armitage when she said he was family, Kylo knew he was included in that too.

When Leia let go of them, Armitage was crying, and Kylo quickly had his arms around him. Armitage buried his face in Kylo’s shoulder. He held him for a few moments before settling him down on the couch.

The doorbell rang and Armitage finally looked up, glancing towards the door and then to Kylo, but he had no idea who it could be.

“I’ll get it,” Leia said. “You two stay here.”

Kylo heard the front door opening and Armitage’s attention was focused in that direction. He was staring and his ears were angled forward, and soon, he started sniffing the air.

“It’s Rae,” he said with a smile.

Right after he said that, Leia returned, followed by Rae. Her attention immediately fell to Armitage and she frowned.

“What did you do to him?” she demanded, growling slightly. Kylo wasn’t sure what to say to that - she had to know his injuries were caused by Brendol.

“It’s okay,” Armitage said. “They’re happy tears.”

“I see. Just remember that if he ever hurts you, you tell me and I’ll take care of him.”

“I think there might be a line if that happens,” Leia said. “We’re quite fond of Armitage ourselves.” Chewbacca grumbled an agreement.

Rae smiled at that. Kylo wasn’t worried at the slight threats, as he knew he’d never hurt Armitage. If anything, Kylo was glad that there were so many people willing to look out for him. After everything he’d been through, it was exactly what he deserved.

“I’m glad he found you,” Rae said. “Come to think of it, you’ve never told me exactly how you came to be living with the governor, Armitage.”

“They never actually told any of us just how they met either,” Leia said. Both Leia and Rae turned their attention to Kylo and Armitage.

“I thought he was a dog lost in the rain,” Kylo said with a sigh. “So I brought him home to clean him up and give him some food and then I found out he was Armie and he stayed.”

“You thought he was a dog?” Rae asked. “I’m surprised you stayed with him after that, Armitage.”

“I wasn’t planning too,” he said. “I was just going to take some food and leave while he was gone but he caught me. I guess as it turns out, just because someone can’t tell the difference between a fox and a dog doesn’t mean they’re not worth sticking with.”

Kylo was about to argue that it was rainy and it was hard to see and that Armitage had been so covered in mud it was impossible to tell that he was a fox under all the dirt. But before he could speak, Armitage kissed him on the cheek and Kylo forgot all about what he was going to say. He just wanted Armitage to do that again.

“How’d you know I was here?” Armitage asked, and Kylo realized he had the same question. They'd never told anyone where they lived.

“I’ve taken over as pack leader,” she said. “That means I needed to establish a relationship with the governor just in case the pack needs help covering up any incidents of pack members being too conspicuous or other trouble. As I was talking with Leia, she mentioned she knew you and that you were staying with her and I asked to meet in person here so I could talk to you. You haven’t been answering your phone.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“I’m just happy to see that you’re safe.”

“Just for the record,” Leia said. “I’d like to say that if any of you feel the need to kill someone again, please include the rest of the family in your plans. There may always be another solution.”

“There wasn’t with Brendol,” Armitage said quickly.

“I know,” Leia said. “As much as I hate to condone violence, if anyone deserved to die, it was Brendol. However, the next person you want to kill may not be so deserving.”

“I don’t think there’s anyone else,” Armitage said. “They’re all dead now. Everyone who hurt me.”

“And we’re going to keep it that way,” Kylo said. “No one will ever hurt you again.”

“It seems like you’re quite happy where you are,” Rae said. “But I’d like to let you know that you can return to the pack if you’d like. So long as I’m around, you’ll have a place there.”

“I want to stay with Kylo,” Armitage said immediately, to Kylo’s relief. He’d worried just for a second that Armitage would want to live with his own people. But he should have known that what they had was stronger than anything else.

“That’s what I thought. I do hope you’ll visit us, though. Both of you.”

“Of course,” Armitage said. “I think I’d like that.”

“There’s one more important thing I’d like to discuss with the two of you,” Rae said. “When do you plan on getting married?”

Kylo nearly choked on his own spit. He thought he must have heard that wrong as they’d never discussed such a thing. Not unless Armitage had mentioned it to Rae. Although judging by his similar reaction, he hadn’t.

“What?” Kylo eventually managed to ask.

“We don’t have any plans,” Armitage said.

“Ah, well, it’s clear the two of you are in love so I thought it was a given that you’d be planning a wedding soon.”

“Uh. No?” Kylo said, but then he looked at Armitage and realized Rae had a point. “I mean. Unless you want to. It makes sense.”

“Can we talk about this later?” Armitage mumbled.

“Of course,” Kylo said, kissing his forehead.

“The reason I asked is because I would like some time to locate some family members,” Rae said. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up, as they might have disappeared completely to escape Brendol, but if you could at least give me a year to try, I’ll do my best to track them down.”

“That’s not a problem,” Armitage said. “Seeing as how we don’t have any plans to get married.”

“And if that changes, we can wait a year for the wedding,” Kylo said.

“Well, in that case, I think it’s time that the governor and I discuss business.”

“Yes, we do have quite a bit to talk about,” Leia said. “Especially if we might become in-laws someday.”

The others left and Armitage almost immediately curled up into Kylo’s chest. Kylo stroked his hair, also unable to resist scratching behind his ears a bit as well.

“I can’t believe she did that,” he groaned into Kylo’s chest.

“What?” Kylo asked.

“The marriage thing.”

“Do you not want to?” Kylo asked. He hadn’t thought about it before at all. The only thing he cared about was being with Armitage and he didn’t need to be married to do that. But as he thought about it, he could picture a wedding, both of them dressed up and declaring their love for each other in a large hall, decorated with flowers. 

“No,” Armitage said, dashing all Kylo’s thoughts of a grand wedding. He lifted his head from Kylo’s chest with a sigh. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I just. I don’t know. If that’s what you want, we can.”

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Kylo said. “I love you and nothing will ever change that. We can get married if you want or we can do it twenty years from now or never. If we do get married, it’s gonna be because we both want it.”

“Do you want to?” Armitage asked.

Kylo almost told him no because he didn’t want to pressure him. But he also wanted to be honest with him, and that desire won out. “I think I’d like that. But like I said, the important thing is that I love you and I will always be yours. No matter if we’re married or not.”

Armitage smiled and gave Kylo a quick kiss before settling down with his head on Kylo’s shoulder. “We promised Rae we’d wait a year anyway,” Armitage said. “Let’s revisit the idea then.”

“Good idea,” Kylo said. As much as Kylo liked the idea of a wedding, he already had the one thing that mattered - Armitage was safe and in his arms.


	16. Chapter 16

Armitage was sure everything had to be too good to be true. It was only a little more than a year since he’d decided to leave his pack and he never imagined things would have turned out so well.

He’d been expecting things to fall apart at any minute. But Leia and the rest of Kylo’s family had never shown any sign of not wanting him around. Kylo never seemed to get tired of him, but even as they started to discuss their wedding, Armitage was just waiting for Kylo to call it off. He’d seen Kylo right before the ceremony and he’d still expected him to not show up, or to get up in front of their friends and family and say he wasn’t going through with it.

But he did none of those things. Instead, Kylo was standing there, smiling at him and slipping a ring on his finger as he promised to love him forever. Armitage couldn’t help but tear up as he made his own promises.

The next time he kissed Kylo, they were husbands. 

The small crowd in the backyard clapped and cheered for them and they made their way to where they had set up for their reception. Kylo had initially talked about a huge wedding at a fancy hotel, but Armitage was glad that he changed his mind. More accurately, the guestlist changed Kylo’s mind when he realized that neither of them had many people to invite.

Armitage had more people than he would have expected. When he first talked about who he planned on inviting, Rae was the only person who came to mind. But he’d also started to get to know a few of the other pack members and they ended up coming as well. Rae had also made good on her promise to find the family that Armitage didn’t even know he was missing.

He smiled at the woman who was the mother he’d never known as she came to congratulate him and Kylo. She hugged him, and then Kylo as well. Her wife was with her as well, and although Armitage had been a little uneasy when he learned she had initially been married to Brendol, he’d grown to like Maratelle over the past month. 

They ate dinner and then there were speeches and cake and dancing, and Armitage spent the entire night with his new husband. It still felt completely unreal that they were married. And he also couldn’t get over how gorgeous Kylo looked.

Armitage had assumed they’d both wear suits, but while they were shopping for clothes, Kylo ended up looking at dresses and he’d eventually settled on a black dress with a low back, lace sleeves, and a flowing skirt. There was red embroidery near the top and bottom, which went well with the red flower crown Rey had made for him.

Armitage had a flower crown of his own, although his was made with pink and yellow flowers to go with his white and pink suit. He’d thought it would look ridiculous, but Kylo had cheerfully put his on to Rey’s delight and Armitage couldn’t say no seeing how happy they were. Once it was on, he decided he liked it, and Rey had even taken his ears into account when she’d made his crown so it fit perfectly.

The sun started to go down and the party showed no signs of stopping. Kylo’s large extended family had arrived for the reception and they seemed to keep coming. Armitage was certain that Kylo wasn’t actually related to most of them, but the one thing he’d learned with the Organa-Solo-Skywalker’s was that blood relation didn’t matter. Family was more than that and Armitage was happy to be among them.

Fortunately, many of them were more interested in the party than talking, which saved Armitage from getting to know so many people. He definitely preferred smaller gatherings, and he really only wanted to be with one person at the moment.

“Want to get out of here?” Armitage whispered in Kylo’s ear as they danced.

“Definitely,” Kylo said. “We can probably slip out with no one noticing and spend the rest of the night in our room.”

“Yes,” Armitage said, smiling. As nice as Kylo’s dress looked, Armitage couldn’t wait to get it off of him.

When the dance finished, they started making their way towards the back door, trying not to attract any attention. Armitage thought they’d make it but then Rey was in their way. 

“Are you leaving?” she asked.

“Uh.” Kylo glanced at Armitage.

“I’d like to spend some alone time with my husband,” Armitage said.

“Gross,” Rey said, making a face. Then she looked beyond them and called, “Dad! Uncle Lando!”

Kylo groaned and Armitage couldn’t help but be disappointed. He really just wanted to spend the rest of the night with Kylo without anyone else, but he knew he couldn’t just run away. He actually liked Han and Lando and most of Kylo’s family. The least he could do was say good night.

“We wanted to catch you before you left,” Han said. “Got a little something for you.”

“I know you said you weren’t going on a honeymoon,” Lando said, “but I reserved my nicest hotel room for you.”

“Thanks,” Kylo said.

“Don’t mention it,” Han said. “It’s more for everyone else. This way we don’t have to listen to the two of you going at it all night.”

“Dad!” Kylo groaned.

“Also,” Han said, ignoring Kylo and looking at Armitage. “I know I said you could start work Monday, but you can start after your honeymoon.”

“I thought you needed the help,” Armitage said. It was by chance that Armitage learned he was good with cars when he fixed Kylo’s car without really knowing what he was doing. After that, Han started teaching him more about fixing cars and then offered him a job at his shop.

“Me and Chewie can handle it until then. The two of us have managed on our own for this long. We can make it another two weeks.”

“Here you go,” Lando said, handing them a small envelope. “Address and room keys. There’s also a little something in the room for you two.” Lando winked as Kylo took the key.

“And because we know the two of you aren’t going to want to wait, we packed your bags for you. If you need anything else, just let us know and we can drop it off. Wouldn’t want you to take too much time from your honeymoon.”

“Come on,” Kylo muttered. “Let’s go.”

“Thank you!” Armitage called as Kylo pulled him away. As promised, there were two bags by the front door and Kylo grabbed them and tossed them in the car, and soon, they were on their way.

Fortunately, it was a short trip and they didn’t even have to stop at the front counter. Armitage was vaguely aware of just how fancy the hotel was - there lobby was a huge room, well-lit and clean and there was even a fountain. Armitage thought about how Kylo suggested having their wedding in a place like that, but Armitage was happy to have held it in the backyard, as it was one of the first places he’d been able to simply be himself.

They couldn’t keep their hands off each other in the elevator up to the top floor. Someone else easily could have gotten on and off and Armitage wouldn’t have even noticed. The only thing that mattered was Kylo. 

Once they were in their room, Armitage allowed his ears and tail to be visible, feeling much more comfortable that way. He knew he could have gotten away walking around in public like that - people just thought they were fake - but Armitage preferred to be careful.

“Holy shit,” Armitage said as he finally took notice of his surroundings. He thought they’d be in a regular hotel room with a bed, a desk, and a chair, but the room they were in was much larger than Armitage could have imagined.

There were huge windows looking out over the city, and the room they were in would have been good enough as a room. There were two large couches, a TV and a small kitchen area with a table for two. But there was more and Armitage walked down a short hallway to find a bedroom with the largest bed he’d ever seen. He also peered into the bathroom and saw that there were two tubs, both of them large enough to fit both him and Kylo.

“A hot tub!” Kylo said from behind him. Kylo walked into the bathroom and grinned. “We’re gonna make good use of that.”

“This place is amazing,” Armitage said.

“Yeah. Did you see the balcony?”

Armitage shook his head and left the bathroom and went out to the main room and saw the open door. He stepped out onto the balcony before going back inside, closing the door behind him. He also noticed a large basket on the coffee table.

“I suppose this is what Lando was talking about,” Armitage said as he walked over to the table. He unwrapped the plastic to reveal several boxes and bottles. He picked up one of the bottles and felt the heat rising to his cheeks.

“I guess he was right about this being useful,” Kylo said as he took the bottle of lube from Armitage. He looked at the other bottles as well. “This… this is all lube.”

“All of it?” Armitage asked. That seemed like a little much, but at least they wouldn’t run out. “What’s in the boxes?”

Armitage grabbed one and opened it up and he couldn’t help but giggle. “Kylo,” he said, still giggling. He gave him the box and Kylo joined him in laughing at the dildo.

Together, they sat on the floor and opened the rest of the boxes. They found all kinds of toys inside, and they couldn’t help but laugh and poke each other with them. There were all kinds of things in there, some of which Armitage wasn’t even sure what they were for. He picked up a pair of leather handcuffs - at least he knew what to do with that.

“Hey,” Kylo said softly, poking him with a butt plug. “I know we haven’t really talked about toys much. We don’t have to use any of this stuff if you don’t want to.”

“I think I’d like to try it,” Armitage said. He put the handcuffs down and straddled Kylo. “But right now, I think I just want to have sex with my husband.”

He kissed him and wiggled his butt, knowing just how to get Kylo going. He could feel Kylo’s cock filling out under him and his was as well. Armitage pulled away briefly, but never got too far before he was kissing Kylo again. He just couldn’t stop himself. He loved Kylo and wanted to spend every single moment for the rest of his life kissing him.

Kylo slipped his hands under Armitage’s jacket and slipped it off and then started undoing the buttons on his shirt. Armitage put his hands on Kylo’s chest, squeezing his pecs through his dress. He wanted to take his dress off, but to do that, he’d have to get off of Kylo, and Armitage liked where he was.

Once Kylo had all the buttons on Armitage’s shirt undone, he pushed the shirt down his arms and soon Kylo’s hand was on his stomach. As Kylo slid his hand up, Armitage smiled, both because he loved Kylo touching him and because he knew what he was going to find. As soon as Kylo’s fingers brushed against the delicate fabric of his bra, he pulled away and looked down.

“Fuck,” Kylo said. “You’re hot.”

Kylo put his hands over the bra, grabbing his chest and then tracing the edge of the fabric. Armitage took the opportunity to pull his shirt off the rest of the way and then Kylo stood up, picking Armitage up as he did so.

“Where do you want to do this?” Kylo asked.

“I think we’re going to fuck on every surface of this place,” Armitage said with a grin. “But let’s go see what that bed’s like.”

Kylo carried him to the bed, grabbing a bottle of lube as he walked away. He set him down on the bed and crawled on top of him. Kylo kissed him and then quickly moved lower on his body until he was kissing and licking his nipples through the bra. One of Kylo’s hands was on Armitage’s waist and slowly moved to the top of his pants and he lightly tugged on the waistband.

“Please tell me you’re wearing matching panties,” Kylo said as he lifted his head.

“There’s only one way to find out.”

Kylo wasted no time undoing the button and zipper of Armitage’s pants to reveal the panties he had on and immediately started kissing him. Armitage smiled at Kylo’s reaction, happy that he was pleased. He’d been nervous about how Kylo would react, but he should have known that Kylo would love anything he wore.

“I didn’t think to wear anything nice,” Kylo said as he tugged his pants off. “Sorry about that.”

“I don’t mind,” Armitage said. “I wasn’t planning on having you wear anything at all.”

Kylo grinned and then quickly removed his dress. As he said, he just had on his usual boxers, but they were on the floor with his dress soon enough. Kylo took off his flower crown and then Armitage’s and set them down on the table before joining Armitage on the bed.

Armitage immediately rolled to lie across Kylo’s chest and started kissing him. He slipped a hand between Kylo’s legs and lightly massaged his balls and then moved up to Kylo’s cock, earning him a moan from Kylo.

“So,” Armitage said as he pulled away. They rarely discussed sex before they got into it, which meant Armitage wasn’t always certain about what they would be doing. 

“I wanna fuck you in this,” Kylo said, grabbing his bra. At least Armitage didn’t need to ask what Kylo wanted. As usual, he said exactly what he wanted. “Please, Armie. I want you to ride me.”

“I could make you beg for it,” he said, throwing his leg over him. He started to rub his ass over Kylo’s cock, enjoying the look on his face. “What if you come just like this?”

“Yes,” Kylo moaned. “Yes. I wanna come. I wanna fuck you and I wanna eat you out and fuck! Armie!”

Armitage lightly pinched his nipples and was not disappointed with Kylo’s reaction. No matter what Armitage did or suggested, he was always ready for it. As fun as it would be to make Kylo beg, Armitage was not patient enough to wait. Although they had sex frequently, Armitage always wanted more.

“Armie,” Kylo whined, a finger teasing a nipple under the bra. “Let me open you up. I wanna eat your ass.”

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” Armitage said and before he knew it, Kylo had him face down on the bed. Armitage lifted his tail to give Kylo access and Kylo soon had his hands on his ass, lightly caressing him. 

Kylo slipped a finger under Armitage’s panties and pushed the fabric out of the way. Almost immediately after, Armitage felt Kylo’s tongue on him. Armitage moaned and pushed back against him, and Kylo gave him exactly what he wanted, pushing his tongue inside. Armitage wanted him to go deeper and soon, Kylo pushed a slick finger inside him.

Armitage could feel his tail wagging with excitement, but he’d lost any embarrassment over it a long time ago. Kylo didn’t care about his tail, even when it hit him, so Armitage didn’t care either. He knew that Kylo loved him and everything about him. That was one thing Armitage would never have to worry about.

Kylo’s mouth moved away from his hole as he slid a second finger inside. Armitage felt teeth on his cheek, gentle, but sure to leave a mark. Kylo licked at where he’d nipped him and then returned to licking at his rim as his fingers stretched him open.

“Tell me when you’re ready,” Kylo said, briefly pulling away before diving back in.

“One more finger,” Armitage said. He let out a cry as Kylo brushed against his prostate.

Kylo continued with two fingers for a little longer and then slowly started to work in a third. Armitage did his best to relax to make things faster, but Kylo’s seemed content to take his time. Armitage didn’t have that kind of patience. He pushed himself down onto Kylo’s fingers, holding still once he had them all the way inside.

“Fuck,” Kylo whispered.

“Fuck me,” Armitage ordered as he pulled off of Kylo’s fingers slightly before pushing back. Kylo didn’t need any more direction and started to fuck him with his fingers. As good as that was, Armitage needed more.

“That’s enough,” Armitage said. 

Kylo pulled his fingers out and gave him a few kisses on his butt before laying on his back. He had the lube in his hand and coated his cock with it. He slowly stroked himself and Armitage straddled him.

Armitage looked down at Kylo and couldn’t stop himself from kissing him. Kylo was absolutely gorgeous and he was all Armitage’s. He still had trouble believing how well things had worked out for him, but it didn’t matter. He finally had someone who loved him and accepted him.

Sitting up, Armitage reached back and took a hold of Kylo’s cock, lining it up at his entrance. He started to sink down, slowly stretching himself open even more. Once Kylo was all the way inside, Armitage sat still, letting himself fully adjust to Kylo’s size.

Kylo’s hands were on Armitage’s hips and one drifted towards his cock, rubbing him through his panties. He reached in and pulled his cock out as much as he could. Kylo’s hand covered Armitage’s cock and lightly rubbed him as Armitage started to move. He went slow at first, simply enjoying the feel of Kylo inside him and the way his cock hit his prostate, but he soon started to speed up, needing more.

And what he really needed was to see the look on Kylo’s face as he rode him. Armitage loved seeing him so needy, so in love. And the sounds he made were perfect as well, spurring Armitage to go faster. Kylo’s hands were all over him, on his hips, his stomach, his chest, his cock. He never seemed to know where he wanted to touch.

When Kylo put his hands behind Armitage and pulled him down, Armitage knew he was close. Kylo held him as he thrust up into him.

“I love you,” Kylo muttered. “I love you Armie. I love you so much.” Kylo kept repeating himself and Armitage couldn’t help but smile. He would never get tired of hearing those words. He pressed his face into Kylo’s neck, kissing him and lightly biting him.

“Fuck, I love you!” Kylo nearly screamed as Kylo’s arms tightened and Armitage felt Kylo spill inside of him. For a few moments, neither of them moved, and then Kylo turned to Armitage, peppering the side of his face with quick kisses. 

Armitage had a second of warning as he felt Kylo move under him and soon, he was flipped over on his back with Kylo still inside him. He sat up and wrapped a hand around Armitage’s cock, and it didn’t take much before Armitage came on his stomach.

He opened his eyes as he felt Kylo pull out and watched as he leaned down, kissing his cock and then moving up to lick him clean. Armitage stroked his hair as he made his way up, kissing everywhere until he finally laid down beside Armitage.

Armitage stared into his husband’s lovely brown eyes and smiled. He started to roll over and Kylo easily fell onto his back and Armitage laid on top of him. Armitage stroked the side of his face while Kylo’s hands drifted down to cup his ass.

They stared at each other for a while, neither of them speaking. When Kylo opened his mouth to speak, Armitage quickly silenced him with a kiss. As much as he liked listening to Kylo’s declarations of love, he didn’t need them. He could see exactly how Kylo felt about him in the way he looked at him and the way he touched him and the way he smiled. He’d let Kylo tell him that he loved him later.

For the moment, Armitage just wanted to feel that love.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [twitter!](https://twitter.com/Battle_Walrus)


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